trace
noun
1. a just detectable amount
- he speaks French with a trace of an accent
Similar word(s): hint, suggestion, tint
Definition categories: quantity
2. an indication that something has been present
- there wasn't a trace of evidence for the claim
Similar word(s): shadow, tincture, vestige
Definition categories: communication, indicant, indication
3. a suggestion of some quality
Definition categories: communication, proffer, proposition, suggestion
4. a drawing created by superimposing a semitransparent sheet of paper on the original image and copying on it the lines of the original image
Similar word(s): tracing
Definition categories: man–made, drawing
5. either of two lines that connect a horse's harness to a wagon or other vehicle or to a whiffletree
Definition categories: man–made, line
6. a visible mark (as a footprint) left by the passage of person or animal or vehicle
Definition categories: communication, mark, print
Sentences with trace as a noun:
- Your cell phone company can put a trace on your line.
- All of our chocolates may contain traces of nuts.
verb
1. follow, discover, or ascertain the course of development of something
- trace the student's progress
- trace one's ancestry
Similar word(s): follow
Definition categories: cognition, analyse, analyze, canvass, examine, study
2. make a mark or lines on a surface
- trace the outline of a figure in the sand
Similar word(s): delineate, describe, draw, line
Definition categories: contact, mark
3. to go back over again
- we retraced the route we took last summer
- trace your path
Similar word(s): retrace
Definition categories: motion, return
4. pursue or chase relentlessly
- The hunters traced the deer into the woods
Definition categories: motion, chase, dog, tag, tail, track, trail
5. discover traces of
- She traced the circumstances of her birth
Definition categories: perception, detect, discover, find, notice, observe
6. make one's course or travel along a path; travel or pass over, around, or along
- The children traced along the edge of the dark forest
- The women traced the pasture
Definition categories: motion, continue, proceed
7. copy by following the lines of the original drawing on a transparent sheet placed upon it; make a tracing of
- trace a design
- trace a pattern
Definition categories: creation, copy
8. read with difficulty
- The archeologist traced the hieroglyphs
Similar word(s): decipher
Definition categories: cognition, read
Sentences with trace as a verb:
- He carefully traced the outlines of the old building before him.