Definitions for: Trace


[n] either of two lines that connect a horse's harness to a wagon or other vehicle or to a whiffletree
[n] drawing created by tracing
[n] a clue that something has been present; "there wasn't a trace of evidence for the claim"
[n] a suggestion of some quality; "there was a touch of sarcasm in his tone"; "he detected a ghost of a smile on her face"
[n] a just detectable amount; "he speaks French with a trace of an accent"
[v] read with difficulty; "Can you decipher this letter?"; "The archeologist traced the hieroglyphs"
[v] follow, discover, or ascertain the course of development of something; "We must follow closely the economic development is Cuba" ; "trace the student's progress"
[v] make a mark or lines on a surface; "draw a line"; "trace the outline of a figure in the sand"
[v] 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"
[v] make one's course or travel along a path; travel or pass over, around, or along; "The children traced along the edge of the drak forest"; "The women traced the pasture"
[v] pursue or chase relentlessly; "The hunters traced the deer into the woods"
[v] to go back over again, as of a route or steps; "we retraced the route we took last summer"
[v] discover traces of; "She traced the circumstances of her birth"



Webster (1913) Definition: Trace, n. (Mech.)
A connecting bar or rod, pivoted at each end to the end of
another piece, for transmitting motion, esp. from one plane
to another; specif., such a piece in an organ-stop action to
transmit motion from the trundle to the lever actuating the
stop slider.


Trace, n. [F. trais. pl. of trait. See Trait.]
One of two straps, chains, or ropes of a harness, extending
from the collar or breastplate to a whiffletree attached to a
vehicle or thing to be drawn; a tug.


Trace, n. [F. trace. See Trace, v. t. ]
1. A mark left by anything passing; a track; a path; a
course; a footprint; a vestige; as, the trace of a
carriage or sled; the trace of a deer; a sinuous trace.
--Milton.

2. (Chem. & Min.) A very small quantity of an element or
compound in a given substance, especially when so small
that the amount is not quantitatively determined in an
analysis; -- hence, in stating an analysis, often
contracted to tr.

3. A mark, impression, or visible appearance of anything left
when the thing itself no longer exists; remains; token;
vestige.

The shady empire shall retain no trace Of war or
blood, but in the sylvan chase. --Pope.

4. (Descriptive Geom. & Persp.) The intersection of a plane
of projection, or an original plane, with a coordinate
plane.

5. (Fort.) The ground plan of a work or works.

Syn.-Vestige; mark; token. See Vestige.


Trace, v. t. [imp. & p. p. traced; p. pr. & vb. n.
tracing.] [OF. tracier, F. tracer, from (assumed) LL.
tractiare, fr.L. tractus, p. p. of trahere to draw. Cf.
Abstract, Attract, Contract, Portratt, Tract,
Trail, Train, Treat. ]
1. To mark out; to draw or delineate with marks; especially,
to copy, as a drawing or engraving, by following the lines
and marking them on a sheet superimposed, through which
they appear; as, to trace a figure or an outline; a traced
drawing.

Some faintly traced features or outline of the
mother and the child, slowly lading into the
twilight of the woods. --Hawthorne.

2. To follow by some mark that has been left by a person or
thing which has preceded; to follow by footsteps, tracks,
or tokens. --Cowper.

You may trace the deluge quite round the globe. --T.
Burnet.

I feel thy power . . . to trace the ways Of highest
agents. --Milton.

3. Hence, to follow the trace or track of.

How all the way the prince on footpace traced.
--Spenser.

4. To copy; to imitate.

That servile path thou nobly dost decline, Of
tracing word, and line by line. --Denham.

5. To walk over; to pass through; to traverse.

We do tracethis alley up and down. --Shak.


Trace, v. i.
To walk; to go; to travel. [Obs.]

Not wont on foot with heavy arms to trace. --Spenser.

Synonyms: decipher, delineate, describe, draw, follow, ghost, hint, hound, hunt, line, outline, retrace, shadow, suggestion, touch, tracing, vestige

See Also: analyse, analyze, canvass, chase, chase after, circumscribe, clew, clue, come back, construct, continue, copy, cue, detect, discover, dog, drawing, examine, ferret, find, get back, go after, go back, go forward, harness, inscribe, line, mark, notice, observe, proceed, proffer, proposition, read, re-create, return, small indefinite amount, small indefinite quantity, spark, study, suggestion, tag, tail, track, trail, write

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