spoorn.1
/spʊə/, /spɔː/, U.S. /spʊ(ə)r/, /spɔr/ 1.
a. The trace, track, or trail of a person or animal, esp. of wild animals pursued as game.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > animals hunted > trail > [noun]
feutea1375
treadc1400
fewea1425
racka1467
train1568
foiling1575
slot1575
trail1590
fuse1611
piste1696
spoor1823
sign1851
slotting1909
society > communication > indication > marking > a mark > trace or vestige > [noun] > left by the passage of something > of a person or animal
sleuthc1175
footstepa1300
feutea1375
treadc1400
fewea1425
foil1575
trail1590
carriage1600
sign1692
piste1696
spoor1823
worm-track1859
met1914
α.
β. 1852 H. D. Thoreau Let. 13 July in Corr. (1958) 283 The vast valley-like ‘spore’..of some celestial beast.1823 in T. Pringle Eng. Settlers Albany, S. Afr. (1824) 84 Soon afterwards the spoor (foot-prints) of three Caffers was discovered, and of course we then knew where they went.
1849 E. E. Napier Excursions Southern Afr. I. 197 Following the ‘spoor’, or tracking the footmarks of man, or beast, is considered quite a science amongst the border Colonists.
1850 R. Gordon-Cumming Five Years Hunter's Life S. Afr. I. xii. 264 At one stream the fresh spoor of a troop of lions was deeply imprinted in the wet sand.
1863 S. Baring-Gould Iceland 103 I rode on ahead, following the spoor of other horses.
1880 R. S. Watson Visit to Wazan vii. 120 We several times passed the recent spoor of wild boars.
b. transferred and figurative.
ΚΠ
1865 W. F. Campbell Short Amer. Tramp 5 Icebergs were seen, and a spoor was followed to St. Louis, on the Mississippi.
1865 W. F. Campbell Short Amer. Tramp 84 Surely the spoor of the Arctic Current was under foot.
1870 T. H. Huxley Lay Serm. (1874) ix. 179 It is the spoor of the game we are tracking.
1874 J. Geikie Great Ice Age vi. 85 When we..follow the spoor of those [glaciers] that crept down from the Southern Uplands.
c. collective (without article).
ΚΠ
1850 R. Gordon-Cumming Five Years Hunter's Life S. Afr. II. xxi. 89 I walked to the fountain to seek for elephants' spoor.
1873 Routledge's Young Gentleman's Mag. May 351 I left my skärm and looked for spoor.
1879 R. J. Atcherley Trip to Boërland 153 They had discovered a water-hole, surrounded with numerous spoor.
2. The track of a vehicle.Cf. Middle English cart-spore, -spurre, and whele-spore.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > indication > marking > a mark > trace or vestige > [noun] > left by the passage of something > of a vehicle
spoor1850
1850 R. Gordon-Cumming Five Years Hunter's Life S. Afr. I. xiii. 299 Eventually..we discovered the spoor of the waggons.
1861 C. J. Andersson Okavango River iv. 46 During the first day's march..we followed the spoor of our waggon.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1914; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
spoorn.2
? dialect.
(See quot. 1837.)
ΚΠ
1837 in Archaeol. (1838) XXVII. 299 In this drift the shield was found, being forced to the surface by the spoor (the implement used in ballasting).
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1914; most recently modified version published online June 2018).
spoorv.
/spʊə/, /spɔː/, U.S. /spʊ(ə)r/, /spɔr/ 1. transitive. To trace (an animal) by the spoor.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > hunt [verb (transitive)] > to track
slot1582
spoor1850
pad1861
1850 R. Gordon-Cumming Five Years Hunter's Life S. Afr. I. xxi. 89 He could not see those [elephants] we were spooring.
1863 W. C. Baldwin Afr. Hunting 122 We spoored them beautifully into a dense thicket.
1899 F. V. Kirby Sport E. Central Afr. xvi. 173 An hour later we spoored our rhino into a thick bamboo jungle.
2. intransitive. To follow a spoor or trail.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > hunt [verb (intransitive)] > to track
spoor1865
the world > movement > progressive motion > order of movement > following behind > follow behind [verb (intransitive)] > follow track or trail
track1805
foot1829
spoor1865
1865 W. F. Campbell Short Amer. Tramp i. 5 While thus spooring for some thousands of miles, other things were noticed.
1897 R. S. S. Baden-Powell Matabele Campaign iv. 90 One nigger-boy, who can ride and spoor and can take charge of the horses.
Derivatives
ˈspooring n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > [noun] > tracking
investigation1623
spooring1850
pugging1866
the world > movement > progressive motion > order of movement > following behind > [noun] > following track or trail
tracing1523
investigation1623
vestigation1658
trail1669
trailing1742
spooring1850
pugging1866
1850 R. Gordon-Cumming Five Years Hunter's Life S. Afr. I. xv. 338 I had great faith in the spooring powers of the Bamangwato men.
1863 W. C. Baldwin Afr. Hunting 392 Though we..had the benefit of January's spooring, we could never find him.
1895 Longman's Mag. July 265 Preparing a fresh supply of snuff against his coming spooring operations.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1914; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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v.1850- falklands
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- fall
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- fall aboard
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