Dictionary-Definition.com :: Trailing definition

Definition of 'trailing'

noun

The pursuit (of a person or animal) by following tracks or marks they left behind [syn: trailing, tracking]

From: GCIDE

Trail \Trail\ (tr[=a]l), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Trailed; p. pr. & vb. n. Trailing.] [OE. trailen, OF. trailler to trail a deer, or hunt him upon a cold scent, also, to hunt or pursue him with a limehound, F. trailler to trail a fishing line; probably from a derivative of L. trahere to draw; cf. L. traha a drag, sledge, tragula a kind of drag net, a small sledge, Sp. trailla a leash, an instrument for leveling the ground, D. treilen to draw with a rope, to tow, treil a rope for drawing a boat. See Trace, v. t.] [1913 Webster] 1. (a) To hunt by the track; to track. (b) to follow behind. (c) To pursue. --Halliwell. [1913 Webster +PJC]
2. To draw or drag, as along the ground. [1913 Webster]
And hung his head, and trailed his legs along. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
They shall not trail me through their streets Like a wild beast. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
Long behind he trails his pompous robe. --Pope. [1913 Webster]
3. (Mil.) To carry, as a firearm, with the breech near the ground and the upper part inclined forward, the piece being held by the right hand near the middle. [1913 Webster]
4. To tread down, as grass, by walking through it; to lay flat. --Longfellow. [1913 Webster]
5. To take advantage of the ignorance of; to impose upon. [Prov. Eng.] [1913 Webster]
I presently perceived she was (what is vernacularly termed) trailing Mrs. Dent; that is, playing on her ignorance. --C. Bronte. [1913 Webster]

From: GCIDE

Trailing \Trail"ing\, a. & vb. n. from Trail. [1913 Webster]
Trailing arbutus. (Bot.) See under Arbutus.
Trailing spring, a spring fixed in the axle box of the trailing wheels of a locomotive engine, and so placed as to assist in deadening any shock which may occur. --Weale.
Trailing wheel, a hind wheel of a locomotive when it is not a driving wheel; also, one of the hind wheels of a carriage. [1913 Webster]