tracer

[ trey-ser ]

noun
  1. a person or thing that traces.

  2. a person whose business or work is the tracing of missing property, parcels, persons, etc.

  1. an inquiry sent from point to point to trace a missing shipment, parcel, or the like, as in a transportation system.

  2. any of various devices for tracing drawings, plans, etc.

  3. Also called tracer ammunition. ammunition containing a chemical substance that causes a projectile to trail smoke or fire so as to make its path visible and indicate a target to other firers, especially at night.

  4. the chemical substance contained in such ammunition.

  5. a substance, especially a radioactive one, traced through a biological, chemical, or physical system in order to study the system.

Origin of tracer

1
First recorded in 1535–45; trace1 + -er1

Words Nearby tracer

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use tracer in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for tracer

tracer

/ (ˈtreɪsə) /


noun
  1. a person or thing that traces

    • a projectile that can be observed when in flight by the burning of chemical substances in its base

    • ammunition consisting of such projectiles

    • (as modifier): tracer fire

  1. med any radioactive isotope introduced into the body to study metabolic processes, absorption, etc, by following its progress through the body with a gamma camera or other detector

  2. an investigation to trace missing cargo, mail, etc

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for tracer

tracer

[ trāsər ]


  1. An identifiable substance, such as a dye or radioactive isotope, that can be followed through the course of a mechanical, chemical, or biological process. Tracers are used in radioimmunoassays and other laboratory testing. The use of radioactive iodine, for example, can give information about thyroid gland metabolism. Also called label

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.