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1. Follow, discover, or ascertain the course of development of something
   "trace the student's progress"; "trace one's ancestry";
   - follow
    
2. Make a mark or lines on a surface
   "trace the outline of a figure in the sand";
   - draw, line, describe, delineate
    
3. To go back over again
   "trace your path";
   - retrace
    
4. Pursue or chase relentlessly
   "The hunters traced the deer into the woods";
   - hound, hunt
    
5. Discover traces of
   "She traced the circumstances of her birth"
    
6. Make one's course or travel along a path; travel or pass over, around, or along
   "The children traced along the edge of the dark forest"; "The women traced the pasture"
    
7. Copy by following the lines of the original drawing on a transparent sheet placed upon it; make a tracing of
   "trace a design"; "trace a pattern"
    
8. Read with difficulty
   "The archeologist traced the hieroglyphs";
   - decipher

1. A just detectable amount
   "he speaks French with a trace of an accent";
   - hint, tint, suggestion
    
2. An indication that something has been present
   "there wasn't a trace of evidence for the claim";
   - vestige, tincture, shadow
    
3. A suggestion of some quality
   "there was a trace of sarcasm in his tone";
   - touch, ghost
    
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
   - tracing
    
5. Either of two lines that connect a horse's harness to a wagon or other vehicle or to a whiffletree
    
6. A visible mark (as a footprint) left by the passage of person, animal or vehicle

Derived forms: tracing, traces, traced

Type of: analyse [Brit, Cdn], analyze [N. Amer], canvass, chase, chase after, continue, copy, detect, discover, dog, drawing, examine, find, give chase, go after, go forward, indicant, indication, line, mark, move ahead, notice, observe, print, proceed, proffer, proposition, read, recreate, re-create, return, small indefinite amount, small indefinite quantity, study, suggestion, tag, tail, track, trail

Part of: harness

Encyclopedia: Trace, Christopher