plural spoor or spoors
1
: a track, a trail, a scent, or droppings especially of a wild animal
2
: a trace by which the progress of someone or something may be followed
spoored; spooring; spoors
: to track by a spoor
: to track something by its spoor
Examples of spoor in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Bydimitri Selibas, science.org, 13 June 2024
Volcanoes some distance away from here left behind some sturdy volcanic rock, but also this spoor of volcanic ash that drifted underwater before the PV Peninsula became itself.
—Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times, 3 May 2024
On Twitter, people speak scoffingly of canceling themselves, as a joke or a pre-emptive measure, since presumably any of us could be canceled at any time, living in our glass Instagrams, leaving a spoor of digitized gaffes behind us.
—New York Times, 3 Dec. 2020
Snow had fallen less than an hour ago, and this spoor is on top of it.
—Natalie Krebs, Outdoor Life, 17 Jan. 2020
The previous method used spoor (paw prints, also called pugmarks, and scat), which often led to the same animal being counted multiple times.
—National Geographic, 20 Apr. 2016
On top goes chaat masala, a collage of spices haunted by the smoky spoor of black salt; amchur, tart green mango powder; and asafetida, with its faint evocation of meat.
—Ligaya Mishan, New York Times, 25 Nov. 2016
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Noun
Over the past 35 years, he’s produced three guides to tracking that describe animal habits and habitats and how to interpret tracks and spoor.
—Bydimitri Selibas, science.org, 13 June 2024
Volcanoes some distance away from here left behind some sturdy volcanic rock, but also this spoor of volcanic ash that drifted underwater before the PV Peninsula became itself.
—Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times, 3 May 2024
On Twitter, people speak scoffingly of canceling themselves, as a joke or a pre-emptive measure, since presumably any of us could be canceled at any time, living in our glass Instagrams, leaving a spoor of digitized gaffes behind us.
—New York Times, 3 Dec. 2020
Snow had fallen less than an hour ago, and this spoor is on top of it.
—Natalie Krebs, Outdoor Life, 17 Jan. 2020
The previous method used spoor (paw prints, also called pugmarks, and scat), which often led to the same animal being counted multiple times.
—National Geographic, 20 Apr. 2016
On top goes chaat masala, a collage of spices haunted by the smoky spoor of black salt; amchur, tart green mango powder; and asafetida, with its faint evocation of meat.
—Ligaya Mishan, New York Times, 25 Nov. 2016
Cite this Entry
“Spoor.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/spoor. Accessed 21 Jul. 2025.
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