trace

Definitions

1. 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. 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. 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. 4.(Descriptive Geom.&Persp.) The intersection of a plane of projection, or an original plane, with a coordinate plane.
5. 5.(Fort.) The ground plan of a work or works. Syn.-Vestige; mark; token. See Vestige.
6. 6.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.
7. 7.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.
8. 8.Hence, to follow the trace or track of. How all the way the prince on footpace traced. Spenser.
9. 9.To copy; to imitate. That servile path thou nobly dost decline, Of tracing word, and line by line. Denham.
10. 10.To walk over; to pass through; to traverse. We do tracethis alley up and down. Shak.
11. 11.To walk; to go; to travel. [Obs.] Not wont on foot with heavy arms to trace. Spenser.

Source: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).

Synonyms

Related questions

• What does "trace" mean?
• What is another word for "trace"?

Reverse-dictionary questions

Definition-first questions whose answer is trace.

• What is 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 called?
• What is the intersection of a plane of projection, or an original plane, with a coordinate plane called?
• What is the ground plan of a work or works. Syn.-Vestige; mark; token. See Vestige called?
• What is hence, to follow the trace or track of. How all the way the prince on footpace traced. Spenser called?
• What is to copy; to imitate. That servile path thou nobly dost decline, Of tracing word, and line by line. Denham called?
• What is to walk over; to pass through; to traverse. We do tracethis alley up and down. Shak called?
• What is to walk; to go; to travel. [Obs.] Not wont on foot with heavy arms to trace. Spenser called?