WordWeb Online

1. The act of drawing a plan, diagram or outline
    
2. A drawing created by superimposing a semitransparent sheet of paper on the original image and copying on it the lines of the original image
   - trace
    
3. The discovery and description of the course of development of something
   "the tracing of genealogies"

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

Derived forms: tracings

Type of: analyse [Brit, Cdn], analyze [N. Amer], canvass, chase, chase after, continue, copy, detect, discover, discovery, dog, drafting, draftsmanship [US], draughtsmanship [Brit, Cdn], drawing, examine, find, give chase, go after, go forward, mark, move ahead, notice, observe, proceed, read, recreate, re-create, return, study, tag, tail, track, trail, uncovering

Encyclopedia: Tracing