tracer

tracer
/tray"seuhr/, n.
1. a person or thing that traces.
2. a person whose business or work is the tracing of missing property, parcels, persons, etc.
3. an inquiry sent from point to point to trace a missing shipment, parcel, or the like, as in a transportation system.
4. any of various devices for tracing drawings, plans, etc.
5. 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, esp. at night.
6. the chemical substance contained in such ammunition.
7. a substance, esp. a radioactive one, traced through a biological, chemical, or physical system in order to study the system.
[1535-45; TRACE1 + -ER1]

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      detectable substance added to a chemical, biological, or physical system to follow its process or to study distribution of the substance in the system. Tracer dyes have long been used to follow the flow of underground streams. Incendiary rounds included at intervals in a belt of machine-gun bullets make the paths of the bullets visible. In scientific work, the use of tracers has increased and, because of the sensitivity of modern methods, has helped solve many problems. Particularly effective modern methods utilize isotopic tracers. See isotopic tracer.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • tracer — [ trase ] v. <conjug. : 3> • XVe; tracier XIIe; lat. pop. °tractiare, class. trahere « tirer, traîner » I ♦ V. tr. 1 ♦ Vx Suivre à la trace, poursuivre. 2 ♦ (mil. XVIe) Indiquer et ouvrir plus ou …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Tracer — may refer to: *Histochemical tracer, a substance used for tracing purposes in histochemistry, the study of the composition of cells and tissues *Isotopic tracer, a substance with an isotope that has been enriched to a greater level than that… …   Wikipedia

  • tracer — Tracer. v. act. Tirer les premieres lignes d un dessein, d un plan, sur le papier, sur la toile, sur le terrein. Tracer un plan. tracer un dessein. tracer une allé, un parterre, un fort, un bastion, des travaux &c. tracer de la tapisserie. tracer …   Dictionnaire de l'Académie française

  • Tracer — Tra cer, n. One who, or that which, traces. [1913 Webster] 2. A person engaged (esp. in the express or railway service) in tracing, or searching out, missing articles, as packages or freight cars. [Webster 1913 Suppl.] 3. An inquiry sent out (esp …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • tracer — Tracer, Inuestigare, Vestigare. Que les gens de village dient tracher. Tracer aussi est grossierement peindre et desseingner les traicts qu on doibt suyvre à faire quelque ouvrage à l esguille sur cannevas ou au pinceau sur autre chose, Delineare …   Thresor de la langue françoyse

  • Tracer — [tre̱ißer; aus engl. tracer = Aufspürer] m; s, : Bezeichnung für radioaktive Markierungsstoffe, mit deren Hilfe u.Tracera. biochemische Vorgänge im Organismus verfolgt werden können …   Das Wörterbuch medizinischer Fachausdrücke

  • tracer — (n.) c.1500, one who tracks or searches, agent noun from verb form of TRACE (Cf. trace) (n.1). Meaning bullet whose course is made visible is from 1910 …   Etymology dictionary

  • tračer — trȁčer m DEFINICIJA reg. onaj koji trača ETIMOLOGIJA vidi trač …   Hrvatski jezični portal

  • tracer — A form (Form 1510, Mail Loss/Rifling Report) that customers fill out to locate delayed or undelivered mail …   Glossary of postal terms

  • tracer — ► NOUN 1) a bullet or shell whose course is made visible by a trail of flames or smoke, used to assist in aiming. 2) a substance introduced into a system so that its subsequent distribution can be followed from its colour, radioactivity, or other …   English terms dictionary

  • tracer — [trās′ər] n. 1. a person or thing that traces; specif., a) a person whose work is tracing drawings, designs, etc. on transparent paper b) a person whose work is tracing lost or missing articles, persons, etc. c) an instrument for tracing designs… …   English World dictionary

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