Tracer
noun
A substance or device used to follow the movement or path of something.
The scientists used a chemical tracer to track the movement of the drug in the patient's body.
Often appears as...
- radioactive tracer
- chemical tracer
Usage tips
Technical
noun
A bullet or shell whose course is made visible by a trail of flames or smoke.
The soldiers fired tracer rounds into the dark to mark the enemy's position.
Often appears as...
- tracer rounds
- tracer bullets
Usage tips
Technical
noun
A person or thing that traces something.
He was the tracer of the missing artworks.
Often appears as...
- tracer of routes
- tracer of objects
noun
A tool used to copy or trace a shape or pattern.
The architect used a tracer to reproduce the design on a blueprint.
Often appears as...
- tracer wheel
- pattern tracer
Usage tips
Technical
noun
A substance or device used to follow the movement or path of something.
The scientists used a chemical tracer to track the movement of the drug in the patient's body.
Often appears as...
- radioactive tracer
- chemical tracer
Usage tips
Technical
noun
A bullet or shell whose course is made visible by a trail of flames or smoke.
The soldiers fired tracer rounds into the dark to mark the enemy's position.
Often appears as...
- tracer rounds
- tracer bullets
Usage tips
Technical
noun
A person or thing that traces something.
He was the tracer of the missing artworks.
Often appears as...
- tracer of routes
- tracer of objects
noun
A tool used to copy or trace a shape or pattern.
The architect used a tracer to reproduce the design on a blueprint.
Often appears as...
- tracer wheel
- pattern tracer
Usage tips
Technical
Definition 1 of 4
Pro Tip 1/2Tracking Usage
Used in scientific and medical contexts to describe how something is followed or monitored over time.
Doctors injected a tracer to observe the cancer's response to treatment.
Pro Tip 2/2Not Physical
'Tracer' in this context often refers to abstract tracking methods, like a signal, not a physical object.
They added a fluorescent tracer to the water sample.
Pro Tip 1/2Tracking Usage
Used in scientific and medical contexts to describe how something is followed or monitored over time.
Doctors injected a tracer to observe the cancer's response to treatment.
Pro Tip 2/2Not Physical
'Tracer' in this context often refers to abstract tracking methods, like a signal, not a physical object.
They added a fluorescent tracer to the water sample.
Pro Tip 1/2Tracking Usage
Used in scientific and medical contexts to describe how something is followed or monitored over time.
Doctors injected a tracer to observe the cancer's response to treatment.
Pro Tip 2/2Not Physical
'Tracer' in this context often refers to abstract tracking methods, like a signal, not a physical object.
They added a fluorescent tracer to the water sample.
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Video examples
How do brain scans work?...
because it takes minutes for the tracer to circulate and changes to show up. These techniques collectively help doctors and scientists connect what happens in the brain with our behavior. But they’re also limited by how much we still don't know.
Video examples
Molly Crockett: Beware...
that uses a radioactive tracer to track blood flow in the brain. For the bargain price of a few thousand dollars, there are clinics in the U.S. that will give you one of these SPECT scans and use the image to help diagnose your problems.
Video examples
How do brain scans work?...
because it takes minutes for the tracer to circulate and changes to show up. These techniques collectively help doctors and scientists connect what happens in the brain with our behavior. But they’re also limited by how much we still don't know.
Video examples
Molly Crockett: Beware...
that uses a radioactive tracer to track blood flow in the brain. For the bargain price of a few thousand dollars, there are clinics in the U.S. that will give you one of these SPECT scans and use the image to help diagnose your problems.
Example 1 of 2
Quote examples
Carlo Ratti
Italian Architect
Like a tracer running through the veins of the city, networks of air quality sensors attached to bikes can help measure an individual's exposure to pollution and draw a dynamic map of the urban air on a human scale, as in the case of the Copenhagen Wheel developed by new startup Superpedestrian.
Quote examples
Carlo Ratti
Italian Architect
Like a tracer running through the veins of the city, networks of air quality sensors attached to bikes can help measure an individual's exposure to pollution and draw a dynamic map of the urban air on a human scale, as in the case of the Copenhagen Wheel developed by new startup Superpedestrian.
Example 1 of 1
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