Trace

/tɹeɪs/ adj, name, noun, verb, slang

adj, name, noun, verb, slang ·Top 500 ·Elementary level

Meaning at a glance

  • Primary sense: An act of tracing.
  • Grammar: trace is listed as adj, name, noun, verb, slang.
  • Nearest alternatives: hint, shadow, a bit, a little.
  • Useful contrasts: no clue, no trace, abandon.
  • Usage evidence: He disappeared without a trace.

How to use "trace"

  1. Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
  2. Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "trace" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
  3. Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.

Meaning check

  • Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
  • Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
  • Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
  • Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?

Source and review context

This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "trace" in a final draft.

If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.

Before you rely on this definition

Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "trace" as the right word for your sentence.

If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "trace" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.

Compare nearby meanings

  • Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
  • Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
  • Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
  • Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.

Definition decision workflow

1. Identify the role

Check whether "trace" is acting as adj, name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.

2. Test the nearest option

Compare it with "hint" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.

3. Confirm with context

Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.

Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.

Final meaning check

Before publishing a sentence with "trace", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.

When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    An act of tracing.

    "Your cell phone company can put a trace on your line."

  2. 2
    either of two lines that connect a horse's harness to a wagon or other vehicle or to a whiffletree wordnet
  3. 3
    An enquiry sent out for a missing article, such as a letter or an express package.
  4. 4
    a drawing created by superimposing a semitransparent sheet of paper on the original image and copying on it the lines of the original image wordnet
  5. 5
    A mark left as a sign of passage of a person or animal.

    "Those are the times you write it off, experience / Walk away, and leave no trace / Cause that night, love had no face"

Show 15 more definitions
  1. 6
    an indication that something has been present wordnet
  2. 7
    A very small amount, often residual, of some substance or material.

    "There are traces of chocolate around your lips."

  3. 8
    a visible mark (as a footprint) left by the passage of person or animal or vehicle wordnet
  4. 9
    A very small amount, often residual, of some substance or material.; A small amount of rain, not enough to be measured.
  5. 10
    a suggestion of some quality wordnet
  6. 11
    A current-carrying conductive pathway on a printed circuit board.
  7. 12
    a just detectable amount wordnet
  8. 13
    An informal road or prominent path in an arid area.
  9. 14
    One of two straps, chains, or ropes of a harness, extending from the collar or breastplate to a whippletree attached to a vehicle or thing to be drawn; a tug.
  10. 15
    A connecting bar or rod, pivoted at each end to the end of another piece, for transmitting motion, especially from one plane to another; specifically, such a piece in an organ stop action to transmit motion from the trundle to the lever actuating the stop slider.
  11. 16
    The ground plan of a work or works.
  12. 17
    The intersection of a plane of projection, or an original plane, with a coordinate plane.
  13. 18
    The sum of the diagonal elements of a square matrix.
  14. 19
    An empty category occupying a position in the syntactic structure from which something has been moved, used to explain constructions such as wh-movement and the passive.

    "[S]upposing the NP has raised in (18), the potential bindees are the clitic and the trace of the focalized NP, neither of which qualifies as a syntactic variable."

  15. 20
    A sequence of instructions, including branches but not loops, that is executed for some input data.
Verb
  1. 1
    To follow the trail of. transitive

    "I feel thy power […] to trace the ways / Of highest agents."

  2. 2
    read with difficulty wordnet
  3. 3
    To follow the history of.

    "1684-1690, Thomas Burnet, Sacred Theory of the Earth You may trace the deluge quite round the globe."

  4. 4
    follow, discover, or ascertain the course of development of something wordnet
  5. 5
    To draw or sketch lightly or with care. transitive

    "He carefully traced the outlines of the old building before him."

Show 11 more definitions
  1. 6
    make a mark or lines on a surface wordnet
  2. 7
    To copy onto a sheet of paper superimposed over the original, by drawing over its lines. transitive
  3. 8
    copy by following the lines of the original drawing on a transparent sheet placed upon it; make a tracing of wordnet
  4. 9
    To copy; to imitate. obsolete, transitive

    "That servile path thou nobly dost decline, / Of tracing word by word, and line by line."

  5. 10
    make one's course or travel along a path; travel or pass over, around, or along wordnet
  6. 11
    To walk; to go; to travel. intransitive, obsolete

    "Not wont on foote with heavy armes to trace."

  7. 12
    pursue or chase relentlessly wordnet
  8. 13
    To walk over; to pass through; to traverse. obsolete, transitive

    "We do trace this alley up and down."

  9. 14
    to go back over again wordnet
  10. 15
    To follow the execution of the program by making it to stop after every instruction, or by making it print a message after every step. transitive
  11. 16
    discover traces of wordnet
Adjective
  1. 1
    Extremely small or insignificant (of an amount or quantity).

    "Vena contracta is defined as the narrowest portion of the regurgitant jet, seen at its origin. In all of the cases, it was assumed that the MR severity was downgraded by general anesthesia because of reduced afterload conditions. In cases where MR was determined to be trace, mild, or moderate, the afterload was manipulated by bolus injections of phenylephrine to approximate the preanesthesia, awake blood pressure. The final MR grade was assigned after this maneuver was completed. If conflicting results were observed for different criteria, the reviewing anesthesiologist made a judgment as to the final grade of MR."

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A short form of the female given name Tracy or Tracey. colloquial

Synonyms

All synonyms
hintshadowa bita littleaccountadjective of evidence

Antonyms

no clueno traceabandonabsence

Example

"He disappeared without a trace."

Common questions

What does "trace" mean?

An act of tracing.

What is a synonym for "trace"?

Common synonyms include: hint, shadow, a bit, a little, account, adjective of evidence.

How do you use "trace" in a sentence?

He disappeared without a trace.

How do you pronounce "trace"?

Pronounced /tɹeɪs/.

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English trace, traas, from Old French trace (“an outline, track, trace”), from the verb (see below).

Etymology 2

From Middle English tracen, from Old French tracer, trasser (“to delineate, score, trace", also, "to follow, pursue”), probably a conflation of Vulgar Latin *tractiō (“to delineate, score, trace”), from Latin trahere (“to draw”); and Old French traquer (“to chase, hunt, pursue”), from trac (“a track, trace”), from Middle Dutch treck, treke (“a drawing, draft, delineation, feature, expedition”). More at track.

More for "trace"

Synonyms

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