spoor

American  

[spoor, spawr, spohr] / spʊər, spɔr, spoʊr /

noun

1. a track or trail, especially that of a wild animal pursued as game.

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verb (used with or without object)

1. to track by or follow a spoor.

spoor British  

/ spʊə, spɔː /

noun

1. the trail of an animal or person, esp as discernible to the human eye

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verb

1. to track (an animal) by following its trail

Other Word Forms

• spoorer noun

Etymology

Origin of spoor

1815–25; < Afrikaans spoor < Dutch; cognate with Old English, Old Norse spor, German Spur; cf. speer

Example Sentences

The automated, data-focused method also streamlines passive acoustic monitoring, offering a more dependable and accessible option than common techniques such as spoor surveys or camera trapping.

From Science Daily • Nov. 22, 2025

Sweet gums, out; They’re also invasive, triggering allergies, and dropping nasty, spiky balls like alien spoor.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 10, 2025

The former crime scene is still a windswept field studded with cacti and criss-crossed by antelope spoor.

From BBC • Oct. 25, 2018

To that end the team is being trained to follow the spoor of lions, look for poachers’ footprints, and remove snares and poisoned carcasses before lions feed on them.

From National Geographic • Jun. 1, 2018

And Unferth's head, as well as the spoor, told him that Grendel's Mother was down there too.

From "Beowulf: A New Telling" by Robert Nye