/spʊə/, /spɔː/, /spʊɹ/
OriginEarly 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.
- uncountable, usuallyThe track, trail, droppings, or scent of an animal.
“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 ”
“Even poor Nobs appeared dejected as we quit the compound and set out upon the well-marked spoor of the abductor.”
“Now he has picked up the spoor of drunken vomit and there is the doll sprawled against a wall, his pants streaked with urine.”
- transitiveTo track (an animal) by following its spoor.
- An occupational surname from Middle English
Formsspoors(plural) · spoors(present, singular, third-person) · spooring(participle, present) · spoored(participle, past) · spoored(past) · Spoors(plural)