[path-fahyn-der, pahth‑] 
| 1. | a person who finds or makes a path, way, route, etc.,esp. through a previously unexplored or untraveled wilderness. |
| 2. | an airplane, or a person dropped from a plane, sent into a target area to illuminate the area for succeeding aircraft. |
| 3. | a radar beacon beamed into a target area to provide guidance for missiles seeking the target. |
| 4. | (initial capital letter ) an unmanned spacecraft that landed on Mars on July 4, 1997, to obtain climatic and geologic data. |
| a historical novel (1840) by James Fenimore Cooper. |
| path·find·er (pāth'fīn'dər, päth'-) n.
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pathfinder path·find·er (pāth'fīn'dər)
n.
A filiform bougie for introduction through a narrow stricture as a guide for the passage of a larger instrument.
