26984 words

trails

20 definitions • 34 examples
1
a path through a countryside, mountain, or forest area, often made or used for a particular purpose:

Examples:

a walking/snowshoeing/cross-country skiing trail
2
the smell or series of marks left by a person, animal, or thing as it moves along:

Examples:

follow a trail The dogs are trained to follow the trail left by the fox.
leave a trail of He left a trail of muddy footprints behind him.
3
various pieces of information that together show where someone you are searching for has gone:

Examples:

leave a trail The police admit that the robbers have left no trail for them to follow up.
4
to be searching for someone or something by examining information you find about where they went:

Examples:

The three men went to the Bahamas, on the trail of a sunken 17th-century galleon full of treasure.
5
to (allow something to) move slowly along the ground or through the air or water, after someone or something:

Examples:

trail in Katherine, your skirt's trailing in the mud!
trail something in something As the boat moved along, he trailed his hand in the water.
6
to move slowly and without energy or enthusiasm:

Examples:

trail back The delegates trailed back into the conference room for the afternoon session.
be trailing behind After a mile or two the youngest children were trailing behind.
7
to be losing to your competitor in a competition:

Examples:

be trailing by The Canadian team is trailing by six points.
8
to follow the trail of someone or something
9
a path through the countryside, often made or used for a particular purpose:
10
A trail is also a series of marks left by a person, animal, or thing as it moves along:

Examples:

The kids left a trail of muddy footprints across the kitchen floor.
11
to follow or come behind:

Examples:

[ T ] Ray trailed Kate up to the porch.
[ I always + adv/prep ] A string of police cars led the president’s limousine and others trailed behind.
12
In a competition, to trail is to be losing to someone:

Examples:

[ I ] Dallas trailed 34-21 with less than seven minutes to play in the football game.
[ T ] Bush trailed the governor by only 4 percentage points.
[ I ] Though trailing in the polls, she predicted victory.
13
to be less successful than competitors or than expected:

Examples:

This company's shares have left most rivals trailing.
Precious-metal stocks trailed, at 124.35.
trail behind sth Prices of mortgage-backed securities trailed behind the gains of the Treasury.
Internet access in the U.S. trails Japan when it comes to speed.
14
to advertise something before it is available to buy, see, use, etc:

Examples:

15
to happen after or follow something:

Examples:

trail behind sth The service, free at the point of use, perpetually trails behind demand.
History suggests that consumer spending declines usually trail consumer confidence declines by about 3 months.
16
a series of activities that someone does in order to achieve something:

Examples:

acquisition/campaign/comeback trail The bank's acquisition trail across the globe might slow a little although it continues to look at potential opportunities.
17
to be trying to find, get, or achieve something:

Examples:

He tells candidates to raise money early, before they hit the trail for speeches and handshakes.
18
to be the first to do something new:

Examples:

Netscape and Hotmail were both swallowed up after blazing the trail for larger, less agile competitors.
I'm not blazing a trail for women, I'm doing this for myself.
19
very close to finding or achieving something:

Examples:

NPR's reporter is hot on the trail of the story.
20
to leave a series or number of things behind you:

Examples:

His company went into liquidation leaving a trail of debts.
Over the past 12 months, the company has underperformed the index by over 20%, leaving a trail of disappointed investors.

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