trail

[ treyl ]

verb (used with object)

1. to drag or let drag along the ground or other surface; draw or drag along behind.
2. to bring or have floating after itself or oneself:

   a racing car trailing clouds of dust.

3. to follow the track, trail, or scent of; track.

   Synonyms: hunt, trace

4. to follow along behind (another), as in a race.
5. to mark out, as a track.
6. to tread down or make a path through (grass or the like).
7. to draw out, as speech; protract.
8. Ceramics. to pour (slip) on a biscuit so as to produce a pattern.

verb (used without object)

1. to be drawn or dragged along the ground or some other surface, as when hanging from something moving:

   Her long bridal gown trailed across the floor.

2. to hang down loosely from something.
3. to stream from or float after something moving, as dust, smoke, and sparks do.
4. to follow as if drawn along.
5. to fish by trailing a line from a moving boat; troll.
6. to go slowly, lazily, or wearily along.
7. to pass or extend in a straggling line.
8. to change gradually or wander from a course, so as to become weak, ineffectual, etc. (usually followed by off or away ):

   Her voice trailed off into silence.

   Synonyms: dwindle, shrink, diminish

9. to arrive or be last:

   He finally trailed in at 10 o'clock.

10. to be losing in a contest:

    The home team was trailing 20 to 15.

11. to creep or crawl, as a serpent.
12. to follow a track or scent, as of game.
13. (of a plant) to extend itself in growth along the ground rather than taking root or clinging by tendrils, etc.

noun

1. a path or track made across a wild region, over rough country, or the like, by the passage of people or animals.
2. the track, scent, or the like, left by an animal, person, or thing, especially as followed by a hunter, hound, or other pursuer.

   Synonyms: spoor

3. something that is trailed or that trails behind, as the train of a skirt or robe.
4. a stream of dust, smoke, light, people, vehicles, etc., behind something moving.
5. Artillery. the part of a gun carriage that rests on the ground when the piece is unlimbered.
6. Architecture. a running vine, leaf, or tendril ornament, as in a Gothic molding.

trail

/ treɪl /

verb

1. to drag or stream, or permit to drag or stream along a surface, esp the ground

   her skirt trailed

   she trailed her skipping rope

2. to make (a track or path) through (a place)

   to trail a way

   to trail a jungle

3. to chase, follow, or hunt (an animal or person) by following marks or tracks
4. whenintr, often foll by behind to lag or linger behind (a person or thing)
5. intr (esp of plants) to extend or droop over or along a surface
6. intr to be falling behind in a race or competition

   the favourite is trailing at the last fence

7. tr to tow (a boat, caravan, etc) behind a motor vehicle
8. tr to carry (a rifle) at the full length of the right arm in a horizontal position, with the muzzle to the fore
9. intr to move wearily or slowly

   we trailed through the city

10. tr (on television or radio) to advertise (a future programme) with short extracts
11. trail one's coat
    trail one's coat to invite a quarrel by deliberately provocative behaviour

noun

1. a print, mark, or marks made by a person, animal, or object
2. the act or an instance of trailing
3. the scent left by a moving person or animal that is followed by a hunting animal
4. a path, track, or road, esp one roughly blazed
5. something that trails behind or trails in loops or strands
6. the part of a towed gun carriage and limber that connects the two when in movement and rests on the ground as a partial support when unlimbered
7. engineering the distance between the point of contact of a steerable wheel and a line drawn from the swivel pin axis to the ground
8. (on television or radio) an advertisement for a future programme

Derived Forms

• ˈtrail-less, adjective

Other Words From

• trailing·ly adverb
• trailless adjective
• non·trailing adjective
• un·trailed adjective
• un·trailing adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of trail¹

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English trailen “to draw or drag in the rear”; compare Old English træglian “to tear off”; cognate with Middle Dutch traghelen “to drag”; akin to Latvian dragât “to tear off, drag”

Word History and Origins

Origin of trail¹

C14: from Old French trailler to draw, tow, from Vulgar Latin tragulāre (unattested), from Latin trāgula dragnet, from trahere to drag; compare Middle Dutch traghelen to drag

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. trail arms, Military.
   1. to hold a rifle in the right hand at an oblique angle, with the muzzle forward and the butt a few inches off the ground.
   2. a command to trail arms.

More idioms and phrases containing trail

see blaze a trail .

Synonym Study

See path.

Example Sentences

Once Lazarus has successfully hacked a target and taken control of the money, the group attempts to cover up its trail to throw off investigators.

From MIT Technology Review

Nearby, 1,000-acre Cambalache State Forest has eight miles of hiking trails.

From Outside Online

Even though it didn’t necessarily take me a long time to do the trail, I still put my life in Portland on pause and set aside this time to do this.

From Outside Online

Astronomers are now faced with the possibility that they might lose as much as two-thirds of their data to these satellite trails.

From MIT Technology Review

I was born on that mountain, and I’ve spent most of my 44 years riding these trails on my mountain bike and my dirt bike, trail-running, and exploring with my wife and daughters.

From Outside Online

Recall how Clinton returned to Arkansas from the campaign trail to preside over the execution of a mentally disabled man.

From The Daily Beast

To break her self-destructive cycle and heal, she decides to hike 1,100 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail solo.

From The Daily Beast

Mothers pushed their children's heads down and they sped through town, leaving a trail of machine-gun shells in their wake.

From The Daily Beast

One seemed particularly promising, by a trail with a big pile of natural brush to furnish a screen.

From The Daily Beast

Instead, that trail seems to lead to another Spinal Solutions contractor, Ryan Zavilenski.

From The Daily Beast

No trail was so obtuse, no thicket so dense that members of that regiment would not track them to their lair.

From Project Gutenberg

If it should ever be my lot to take the Long Trail at short notice, I hope it will be under a blue sky and a blazing sun.

From Project Gutenberg

When we got down into the bottom Mac turned aside to the deep-worn trail and glanced sharply down at the ruts.

From Project Gutenberg

She had been walking alone with her arms hanging limp, letting her white skirts trail along the dewy path.

From Project Gutenberg

By using his walking stick he discovered that they formed a trail to a point in the wall.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• aisle
• pathway
• road
• route
• stream
• train