Library / English Dictionary

TRAIL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A path or track roughly blazed through wild or hilly country

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("trail" is a kind of...):

cart track; cartroad; track (any road or path affording passage especially a rough one)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "trail"):

cattle trail (a trail over which cattle were driven to market)

deer trail (a trail worn by the passage of deer)

horse-trail (a trail for horses)

Indian trail (a trail through the wilderness worn by Amerindians)

mountain trail (a trail through mountainous country)

ski run; ski trail (trail or slope prepared for skiing)

Instance hyponyms:

Iditarod Trail (a trail that extends 1,100 miles from Anchorage over the Alaska Range to Nome)

Santa Fe Trail (a trail that extends from Missouri to New Mexico; an important route for settlers moving west in the 19th century)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Evidence pointing to a possible solution

Example:

the trail led straight to the perpetrator

Synonyms:

lead; track; trail

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Hypernyms ("trail" is a kind of...):

evidence; grounds (your basis for belief or disbelief; knowledge on which to base belief)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A track or mark left by something that has passed

Example:

a tear left its trail on her cheek

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Hypernyms ("trail" is a kind of...):

course; path; track (a line or route along which something travels or moves)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "trail"):

slot (the trail of an animal (especially a deer))

spoor (the trail left by a person or an animal; what the hunter follows in pursuing game)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Drag loosely along a surface; allow to sweep the ground

Example:

She trained her long scarf behind her

Synonyms:

trail; train

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "trail" is one way to...):

drag (pull, as against a resistance)

Verb group:

trail (hang down so as to drag along the ground)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

trailer (a wheeled vehicle that can be pulled by a car or truck and is equipped for occupancy)

trailer (a large transport conveyance designed to be pulled by a truck or tractor)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Hang down so as to drag along the ground

Example:

The bride's veiled trailed along the ground

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Verb group:

trail; train (drag loosely along a surface; allow to sweep the ground)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP

Sense 3

Meaning:

Go after with the intent to catch

Example:

the dog chased the rabbit

Synonyms:

chase; chase after; dog; give chase; go after; tag; tail; track; trail

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "trail" is one way to...):

follow; pursue (follow in or as if in pursuit)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "trail"):

tree (chase an animal up a tree)

quest (search the trail of (game))

hound; hunt; trace (pursue or chase relentlessly)

run down (pursue until captured)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Sentence example:

They trail the car down the avenue

Derivation:

trailing (the pursuit (of a person or animal) by following tracks or marks they left behind)

Sense 4

Meaning:

To lag or linger behind

Example:

But in so many other areas we still are dragging

Synonyms:

drag; drop back; drop behind; get behind; hang back; trail

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "trail" is one way to...):

dawdle; fall back; fall behind; lag (hang (back) or fall (behind) in movement, progress, development, etc.)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

trailer (someone who takes more time than necessary; someone who lags behind)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Move, proceed, or walk draggingly or slowly

Example:

The Mercedes trailed behind the horse cart

Synonyms:

shack; trail

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "trail" is one way to...):

go; locomote; move; travel (change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Something is ----ing PP

Derivation:

trailer (someone who takes more time than necessary; someone who lags behind)

Credits

 Context examples: 

You won't stop, I know, as long as you can trail round in a white gown with your hair down, and wear gold-paper jewelry.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

I may be on the trail in this matter, or I may be following a will-o’-the-wisp, but I shall soon know which it is.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

This small decrease is consistent with a gravitationally-bound moon trailing the planet, much like a dog following after its owner.

(Astronomers Find First Evidence of Possible Moon Outside Our Solar System, NASA)

The period of greatest risk to orbiting spacecraft will start about 90 minutes later and last about 20 minutes, when Mars will come closest to the center of the widening dust trail from the nucleus.

(Mars spacecraft prepare for close comet flyby, NASA)

The trail it left on the slope has a pattern that suggests the boulder couldn't roll smoothly or straight due to its shape.

(Tall boulder rolls down martian hill, lands upright, NASA)

Some use acute scenting powers to follow a trail.

(Hound Breed, NCI Thesaurus)

The resulting debris is now scattered along a 3,000-mile-long trail, larger than the width of the continental U.S.

(Hubble Takes Close-up Look at Disintegrating Comet, NASA)

On the fourth day I found the trail—a mere foot-trail. It led inland, and it led up.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Sir Nigel had scarcely spoken when the mist seemed to thin in the valley, and to shred away into long ragged clouds which trailed from the edges of the cliffs.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

At length I was clear of my dangerous neighbour, and just as I gave the last impulsion, my hands came across a light cord that was trailing overboard across the stern bulwarks.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)