tracer ammunition

tracer ammunition
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. in transportation service) for a missing article, as a letter or an express package. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

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}. [PJC]

5. (Mil.) the chemical substance used in tracer ammunition to cause it to be visible in flight. [PJC]

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. [PJC]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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  • Tracer ammunition — thumb|right|200px|Tracers from M16 rifles on U.S. Army firing rangeTracer ammunition (tracers) are special bullets that are modified to accept a small pyrotechnic charge in their base. Ignited upon firing, the composition burns very brightly,… …   Wikipedia

  • tracer ammunition — noun see tracer I, 4a …   Useful english dictionary

  • 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 — 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 Bullet — can refer to: *Tracer ammunition *A fictional detective (and alter ego) in the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes …   Wikipedia

  • Ammunition — This article is about ammunition for firearms and artillery. For the product design company, see Ammunition Design Group. A belt of 0.50 caliber ammunition loaded to a …   Wikipedia

  • 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… …   Universalium

  • ammunition — n. 1) to provide ammunition for (also fig.) 2) to issue ammunition 3) blank; dummy; live; tracer ammunition * * * [ˌæmjʊ nɪʃ(ə)n] dummy live tracer ammunition blank to issue ammunition to provide ammunition for …   Combinatory 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

  • tracer bullet — noun ammunition whose flight can be observed by a trail of smoke • Syn: ↑tracer • Hypernyms: ↑ammunition, ↑ammo * * * noun : a bullet that contains a tracer and leaves a path of smoke or fire * * * a bullet containing a tracer. [1915 20] * * * …   Useful english dictionary

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