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Tracer   Listen
noun
Tracer  n.  
1.
One who, or that which, traces.
2.
A person engaged (esp. in the express or railway service) in tracing, or searching out, missing articles, as packages or freight cars.
3.
An inquiry sent out (esp. in transportation service) for a missing article, as a letter or an express package.
4.
(Mil.) A type of ammunition that emits light or smoke as it moves toward its target, providing a visible path of the projectile in flight so that the point of impact may be observed; called also tracer ammunition.
5.
(Mil.) The chemical substance used in tracer ammunition to cause it to be visible in flight.
6.
A chemical substance with properties, such as radioactivity or fluorescence, which make it easily measurable, used to observe the movements of chemically related substances through a biological, physical, or chemical system; in biochemistry, also called labeled compounds. Note: Radioactive tracers are used, for example, to measure the retention or distribution of residues of drugs after administration to an animal, to determine the type and rate of metabolism; also, to measure the rate of motion of molecules in electrophoresis or the leakage of small quantities of material from a container. Small fluorescent tracers may be attached in many cases to macromolecules such as proteins or nucleic acids, allowing the motions of such macromolecules to be easily observed by their acquired fluorescence, without appreciably changing their properties. In biological and biochemial systems the common radioactive isotopes used in tracers are carbon-14, tritium (hydrogen-3), sulfur-35, phosphorus-32, and iodine-131; other isotopes are also used, including non-radioactive isotopes such as carbon-13.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Tracer" Quotes from Famous Books



... face. Still human sense remains. Where shall he turn? His royal palace seek,—or in the woods Secluded hide?—To tarry fear forbids, And shame prevents returning. While he doubts His hounds espy him. Quick-nos'd Tracer first, And Blackfoot give the signal by their yell: Tracer of Crete, and Blackfoot Spartan bred. Swifter than air the noisy pack rush on; Arcadian Quicksight; Glutton; Ranger, stout; Strong Killbuck; Whirlwind, furious; Hunter, fierce; Flyer, swift-footed; and quick-scented Snap: Ringwood, late ...
— The Metamorphoses of Publius Ovidus Naso in English blank verse Vols. I & II • Ovid

... to give us a king-sized headache! But they didn't have any trouble finding you. We discovered tonight that some kind of tracer material had been worked into all your clothes. Even the flimsies. Somebody may have been planted in the school laundry, but that's not important now." He looked at her for a moment. "What made you decide to take ...
— Legacy • James H Schmitz

... known that there was a leak!" he said with hoarse, painful deliberation. "I have sent out every possible tracer. I have followed up every sort of clew I have transferred a dozen men. I have ...
— The Last Shot • Frederick Palmer

... seven sectors perhaps a dozen vessels threw out enormous spherical screens of intense red light, and as they did so their tracer points upon all the interlocked lookout plates also became ringed about with red. Toward those crimson markers the pilots of the unmarked vessels directed their courses at their utmost power; and while the white lights upon the lookout plates moved slowly toward ...
— Triplanetary • Edward Elmer Smith



Words linked to "Tracer" :   tracer bullet, instrument, radioisotope, radiology, trace, investigator, ammo, tec, detective



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