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Trail

[treyl]

Example Sentences Origin

verb (used with object)

to drag or let drag along the ground or other surface; draw or drag along behind.

to bring or have floating after itself or oneself: a racing car trailing clouds of dust.

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

to follow along behind (another), as in a race.

to mark out, as a track.

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to tread down or make a path through (grass or the like).

to draw out, as speech; protract.

Ceramics. to pour (slip) on a biscuit so as to produce a pattern.

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verb (used without object)

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.

10.

to hang down loosely from something.

11.

to stream from or float after something moving, as dust, smoke, and sparks do.

12.

to follow as if drawn along.

13.

to fish by trailing a line from a moving boat; troll.

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14.

to go slowly, lazily, or wearily along.

15.

to pass or extend in a straggling line.

16.

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.

17.

to arrive or be last: He finally trailed in at 10 o'clock.

18.

to be losing in a contest: The home team was trailing 20 to 15.

19.

to creep or crawl, as a serpent.

20.

to follow a track or scent, as of game.

21.

(of a plant) to extend itself in growth along the ground rather than taking root or clinging by tendrils, etc.

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Trail is one of our favorite verbs.

So is kibitz. Does it mean:

chat, to converse

to chew (food) slowly and thoroughly.

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noun

22.

a path or track made across a wild region, over rough country, or the like, by the passage of people or animals.

23.

the track, scent, or the like, left by an animal, person, or thing, especially as followed by a hunter, hound, or other pursuer.

24.

something that is trailed or that trails behind, as the train of a skirt or robe.

25.

a stream of dust, smoke, light, people, vehicles, etc., behind something moving.

26.

Artillery. the part of a gun carriage that rests on the ground when the piece is unlimbered.

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27.

Architecture. a running vine, leaf, or tendril ornament, as in a Gothic molding.

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Idiom

28.

trail arms, Military.

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.

a command to trail arms.

Origin:
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

Related forms

trail·ing·ly, adverb

trail·less, adjective

non·trail·ing, adjective

un·trailed, adjective

un·trail·ing, adjective

Can be confused: trail, trial (see synonym note at trial).

Synonyms
3. trace, hunt. 16. diminish, shrink, dwindle. 22. See path. 23. spoor.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To Trail

Example Sentences

But nothing for science, apart from a few perfunctory nods from the campaign trail.

But this way of doing things works only when others have blazed a trail before you.

For one of the best ways to experience the canyon, take a cowboy-guided horseback or mule trail ride into the canyon.

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But nothing for science, apart from a few perfunctory nods from the campaign trail.

But this way of doing things works only when others have blazed a trail before you.

For one of the best ways to experience the canyon, take a cowboy-guided horseback or mule trail ride into the canyon.

When they're not riding turtles, snails produce a little mucus trail as they creep along the ground.

On the trail of art thieves and elusive elephants.

Today he's employed by the city as the bike park's trail master.

Trail runners encounter more obstacles than the average pavement runner.

Second, if the behavior is genuinely appalling, then there needs to be a paper trail.

And the biker-friendly trail ensures that, eventually, help will always turn up and no biker will be left in the lurch.

It also provides for the kind of deep pockets liability greedy trail lawyers dream about.

Signs marked a cleared canoe trail that meandered through the plants.

Read on for our top five hikes, plus what to do when you're off the trail.

One area where they performed poorly, however, was on the trail.

These are good observations for the present but there is no trail of observation linkage to that distant past.

Corridor-a trail that would be protected from further harm by federal restrictions on development and industry.

The photographers begin to pack up their equipment and head back down the trail.

It also has that in-shoe sensor, so it's still great for treadmill, trail and rainy day runs.

Darwin was a trail blazer who thought outside the box.

Calvin leads us along a trail that links sudden worldwide coolings to the origin of our large brains and modern human behavior.

Using color to trace trail to ground water or not seems to be held up in a study.

Strangers will lend you a horse and hand you a beer at the zydeco trail ride.

And every four years while on the campaign trail the media run short of stories about the candidates and fill in.

When an ant finds food, she takes it back to the nest, leaving behind a pheromone trail that will attract others.

Send us your hard-won trail photos and they could be published in an upcoming gallery.

If tissue engineers can manufacture living replacement teeth, they would blaze a trail for.

Highlights include a visitor center with exhibits, an interpretive, self-guided trail on the battlefield and guided tours.

Visit this lesser-known town for abundant sunshine, wine, and an exciting bike trail.

Oh do this via email so that there's a paper trail.

The pheromones they lay down on their trail then allow other ants to use that same route.

The night before, the group had sprinkled a trail of alfalfa pellets into five deer.

We went to the paper trail and could show how people actually voted.

Eventually when he gets completely over the top, there should be enough of a paper trail to fire him.

The probe's chunky tires crunch a trail through the snow, then jerk to a stop.

If the scent is sufficiently strong, the surfer will continue to go on that trail.

If nothing else, you later have the paper trail that you were always being reasonable.

Try a walk in the park or get on a mountain bike and do a trail through the park.

Take the easy half-mile trail to the top of the falls, stopping at various vantage.

They can take several seconds to blaze across the sky, and sometimes leave a brief trail of glowing smoke.

There might also be a horse-trail maintenance committee and/or a trail riding group that you could find.

And we've put a series of signs along this trail that gives tips on riding technique, ecology, and trail etiquette.

Imodium will stop the flow and help you get out of the john and back on the trail.

Always squash the inner snark when leaving a paper trail.

Normally, the skin acts as a protective barrier against bugs, but a razor leaves a trail of nicks and micro-cuts in its.

Mountain trail horseback rides and whitewater rafting are just.

The spooks apparently didn't realize this and left a trail of cellular footprints at the crime scene.

The first oil trail was a three-kilometer wide downwind plume made up of the crude's lightest hydrocarbons.

Today it was trail mix, a big bag with tons of dried fruit at the top.

The trail toward making such a determination, experts say, is strewn with scientific and political land mines.

There, hikers left letters or cards inside a box along the trail.

Presidential trail life is a study in the embrace of absurdity.

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Collins

World English Dictionary

trail (treɪl)

—vb (when intr, often foll by behind)
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.	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 to invite a quarrel by deliberately provocative behaviour

—n
12.	a print, mark, or marks made by a person, animal, or object
13.	the act or an instance of trailing
14.	the scent left by a moving person or animal that is followed by a hunting animal
15.	a path, track, or road, esp one roughly blazed
16.	something that trails behind or trails in loops or strands
17.	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
18.	engineering the distance between the point of contact of a steerable wheel and a line drawn from the swivel pin axis to the ground
19.	(on television or radio) an advertisement for a future programme

[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]

'trail-less

—*adj*

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

trail

c.1300, "to drag along behind," from O.Fr. trailler "to tow," ult. from V.L. *tragulare "to drag," from L. tragula "dragnet," probably related to trahere "to pull" (see tract (1)). The meaning "follow the trail of" is first recorded 1590.

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trail

c.1300, "train of a robe," from the source of trail (v.). The meaning "track or smell left by a person or animal" is also from 1590. Meaning "path or track worn in wilderness" is attested from 1807.

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American Heritage

Idioms & Phrases

trail

see blaze a trail.

Encyclopedia Britannica

Encyclopedia

Trail

city, southeastern British Columbia, Canada. It lies along the Columbia River at the mouth of Trail Creek, adjacent to Rossland, in the Selkirk Mountains, and just north of the U.S.-Canada border and the state of Washington

Learn more about Trail with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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Slang

hit the trail

Idioms & Phrases

blaze a trail

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Matching Quote

"When offense occurred, Slaughter took the trail, and seldom returned with a live prisoner. Usually he reported that he had chased the suspect "clean out of the county"; these suspects never reappeared in Tombstone—or anywhere else."

-Administration in the State of Ariz

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