'Trace' definitions:

Definition of 'trace'

From: WordNet
noun
A just detectable amount; "he speaks French with a trace of an accent" [syn: trace, hint, suggestion]
noun
An indication that something has been present; "there wasn't a trace of evidence for the claim"; "a tincture of condescension" [syn: trace, vestige, tincture, shadow]
noun
A suggestion of some quality; "there was a touch of sarcasm in his tone"; "he detected a ghost of a smile on her face" [syn: touch, trace, ghost]
noun
A drawing created by superimposing a semitransparent sheet of paper on the original image and copying on it the lines of the original image [syn: tracing, trace]
noun
Either of two lines that connect a horse's harness to a wagon or other vehicle or to a whiffletree
noun
A visible mark (as a footprint) left by the passage of person or animal or vehicle
verb
Follow, discover, or ascertain the course of development of something; "We must follow closely the economic development is Cuba" ; "trace the student's progress" [syn: trace, follow]
verb
Make a mark or lines on a surface; "draw a line"; "trace the outline of a figure in the sand" [syn: trace, draw, line, describe, delineate]
verb
To go back over again; "we retraced the route we took last summer"; "trace your path" [syn: trace, retrace]
verb
Pursue or chase relentlessly; "The hunters traced the deer into the woods"; "the detectives hounded the suspect until they found him" [syn: hound, hunt, trace]
verb
Discover traces of; "She traced the circumstances of her birth"
verb
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"
verb
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"
verb
Read with difficulty; "Can you decipher this letter?"; "The archeologist traced the hieroglyphs" [syn: decipher, trace]

Definition of 'Trace'

From: GCIDE
  • Trace \Trace\, n. [F. trais. pl. of trait. See Trait.]
  • 1. 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. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. (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. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

Definition of 'Trace'

From: GCIDE
  • Trace \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. [1913 Webster]
  • Some faintly traced features or outline of the mother and the child, slowly lading into the twilight of the woods. --Hawthorne. [1913 Webster]
  • 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. [1913 Webster]
  • You may trace the deluge quite round the globe. --T. Burnet. [1913 Webster]
  • I feel thy power . . . to trace the ways Of highest agents. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. Hence, to follow the trace or track of. [1913 Webster]
  • How all the way the prince on footpace traced. --Spenser. [1913 Webster]
  • 4. To copy; to imitate. [1913 Webster]
  • That servile path thou nobly dost decline, Of tracing word, and line by line. --Denham. [1913 Webster]
  • 5. To walk over; to pass through; to traverse. [1913 Webster]
  • We do tracethis alley up and down. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'Trace'

From: GCIDE
  • Trace \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. [1913 Webster]
  • 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. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. A mark, impression, or visible appearance of anything left when the thing itself no longer exists; remains; token; vestige. [1913 Webster]
  • The shady empire shall retain no trace Of war or blood, but in the sylvan chase. --Pope. [1913 Webster]
  • 4. (Descriptive Geom. & Persp.) The intersection of a plane of projection, or an original plane, with a coordinate plane. [1913 Webster]
  • 5. (Fort.) The ground plan of a work or works. [1913 Webster]
  • Syn.-Vestige; mark; token. See Vestige. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'Trace'

From: GCIDE
  • Trace \Trace\, v. i. To walk; to go; to travel. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
  • Not wont on foot with heavy arms to trace. --Spenser. [1913 Webster]

Synonyms of 'trace'

From: Moby Thesaurus