Trailing

//ˈtɹeɪ.lɪŋ// adj, noun, verb

adj, noun, verb ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun

1
Fabric or other material that trails.
"[…] their roots, projecting in fibrous sprawls from their trunks, were their feet, and she pictured them advancing with wide trailings, and rustlings as of green draperies […]"
2
the pursuit (of a person or animal) by following tracks or marks they left behind wordnet

Verb

1
present participle and gerund of trail form-of, gerund, participle, present

Adjective

1
That converge in the direction of travel. not-comparable
"On the far hillside we are approaching can be descried a bridge on the first section (Ruabon–Llangollen) of the important G.W.R. branch to Dolgelley, which will shortly join our main line by means of a trailing junction."
2
That follows behind; especially, that is attached and pulled behind. not-comparable
"the trailing railcars"

Synonyms

bugging chase chasing cloak-and-dagger work consecutive counterespionage

Antonyms

Example

""Ah, the trailing group has arrived." "Oh no. They caught up with us while we were resting.""

Related phrases

coat-trailing semi-trailing trailing arbutus trailing axle trailing commission trailing edge trailing edge trailing points trailing spoke trailing spring trailing truck trailing wheel

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.