spoor

English

Etymology

From Afrikaans, from Dutch spoor, akin to Old English and Old Norse spor (whence Danish spor).

Pronunciation

• (RP) IPA: /spʊə/
• (GenAm) IPA: /spʊɹ/, /spɔɹ/
• Homophones: spore (in some accents)

Noun

spoor (usually uncountable; plural spoors)

1. The track, trail, droppings or scent of an animal
   • 1971, William S. Burroughs, The Wild Boys: A Book of the Dead, page 10

     Now he has picked up the spoor of drunken vomit and there is the doll sprawled against a wall, his pants streaked with urine.

   • 1918, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Land That Time Forgot Chapter VIII

     Even poor Nobs appeared dejected as we quit the compound and set out upon the well-marked spoor of the abductor.

Verb

spoor (third-person singular simple present spoors, present participle spooring, simple past and past participle spoored)

1. (transitive) To track an animal by following its spoor

Anagrams

• roops
• sopor

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Dutch

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Etymology 1

From Old Dutch *spor, from Proto-Germanic *spuran.

Noun

spoor n. (plural sporen, diminutive spoortje)

1. track
2. railway track
3. trace
4. spoor
5. lead, trail, clue

Derived terms

• smalspoor
• spoorbaan
• spoorloos
• spoorweg
• treinspoor
• voetspoor

Etymology 2

Noun

spoor f. and m. (plural sporen, ^??? please provide the diminutive!)

1. spur
2. spore

Derived terms

• aansporen