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trail - Meaning and Examples

Meaning of 'trail' (Webster Dictionary)

1 . Trail [ n.]
- A track left by man or beast; a track followed by the hunter; a scent on the ground by the animal pursued; as, a deer trail.
- A footpath or road track through a wilderness or wild region; as, an Indian trail over the plains.
- Anything drawn out to a length; as, the trail of a meteor; a trail of smoke.
- Anything drawn behind in long undulations; a train.
- Anything drawn along, as a vehicle.
- A frame for trailing plants; a trellis.
- The entrails of a fowl, especially of game, as the woodcock, and the like; -- applied also, sometimes, to the entrails of sheep.
- That part of the stock of a gun carriage which rests on the ground when the piece is unlimbered. See Illust. of Gun carriage, under Gun.
- The act of taking advantage of the ignorance of a person; an imposition.
2 . Trail [ v. i.]
- To be drawn out in length; to follow after.
- To grow to great length, especially when slender and creeping upon the ground, as a plant; to run or climb.
3 . Trail [ v. t.]
- To hunt by the track; to track.
- To draw or drag, as along the ground.
- 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.
- To tread down, as grass, by walking through it; to lay flat.
- To take advantage of the ignorance of; to impose upon.

Meaning of 'trail' (Princeton's WordNet)

1 . trail [ n]
Meaning (1):
- a track or mark left by something that has passed
Example in sentence:
  • a tear left its trail on her cheek;
  • there as a trail of blood
Meaning (2):
- evidence pointing to a possible solution
Example in sentence:
  • the police are following a promising lead;
  • the trail led straight to the perpetrator
3 . trail [ v]
Meaning (3):
- to lag or linger behind
Example in sentence:
  • But in so many other areas we still are dragging
Meaning (4):
- move, proceed, or walk draggingly or slowly
Example in sentence:
  • John trailed behind his class mates;
  • The Mercedes trailed behind the horse cart
Meaning (5):
- drag loosely along a surface; allow to sweep the ground
Example in sentence:
  • She trained her long scarf behind her;
  • The toddler was trailing his pants
Meaning (6):
- hang down so as to drag along the ground
Example in sentence:
  • The bride's veiled trailed along the ground
Meaning (7):
- go after with the intent to catch
Example in sentence:
  • the dog chased the rabbit;
  • The policeman chased the mugger down the alley

Nearby Words:

trabea trabeae trabeated trabeation trabecula trabeculae trabecular trabeculate trabu trace

See 'trail' also in:

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Related Definitions

  • Packet trailer
    Packet trailer information added to the end of the data being sent, which generally contains error-checking information such as the CRC.
  • Audit Trail
    An audit trail of an application is showing who corrected each error and when and how each error was corrected.

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