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Synonyms

retrace

American  
[ri-treys] / rɪˈtreɪs /

verb (used with object)

retraced, retracing

  1. to trace backward; go back over.

    to retrace one's steps.

  2. to go back over with the memory.

  3. to go over again with the sight or attention.

  4. re-trace.

retrace British  
/ rɪˈtreɪs /

verb

  1. to go back over (one's steps, a route, etc) again

    we retraced the route we took last summer

  2. to go over (a past event) in the mind; recall

  3. to go over (a story, account, etc) from the beginning

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • nonretraceable adjective
  • retraceable adjective
  • retracement noun

Etymology

Origin of retrace

1690–1700; < French retracer, Middle French retracier, equivalent to re- re- + tracier to trace 1

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.