Spoor
name, noun, verb ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 The track, trail, droppings, or scent of an animal. uncountable, usually
"We all stopped to examine that monstrous spoor. If it were indeed a bird - and what animal could leave such a mark? - its foot was so much larger than an ostrich's that its height upon the same scale must be enormous."
- 2 the trail left by a person or an animal; what the hunter follows in pursuing game wordnet
- 1 To track (an animal) by following its spoor. transitive
- 1 An occupational surname from Middle English
Example
More examples"But he and other Eastern Cape conservationists have seen enough leopard spoor, droppings and the carcasses of animals killed by the powerful carnivores to convince them that the cats are still prevalent in the region, although in much fewer numbers than in the past."
Etymology
Early 19th century, from Afrikaans spoor, from Dutch spoor (“track”). Akin to Old English and Old Norse spor (whence Danish spor), and German Spur, all from Proto-Germanic *spurą. Compare spurn.
From the Dutch and English surname, from the noun spur. From being a maker of spurs.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.