trail

English Online Dictionary. What means trail‎? What does trail mean?

English

Etymology

From Middle English trailen, from Old French trailler (“to tow; pick up the scent of a quarry”), from Vulgar Latin *tragulāre (“to drag”), from Latin tragula (“dragnet, javelin thrown by a strap”), probably related to Latin trahere (“to pull, drag along”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: trāl, IPA^(key): /tɹeɪl/
• Rhymes: -eɪl

Verb

trail (third-person singular simple present trails, present participle trailing, simple past and past participle trailed)

1. (transitive) To follow behind (someone or something); to tail (someone or something).

2. (transitive) To drag (something) behind on the ground.
3. (transitive) To leave (a trail of).

4. (transitive) To show a trailer of (a film, TV show etc.); to release or publish a preview of (a report etc.) in advance of the full publication.

5. (intransitive) To hang or drag loosely behind; to move with a slow sweeping motion.
6. (intransitive) To run or climb like certain plants.
7. (intransitive) To drag oneself lazily or reluctantly along.

8. To be losing, to be behind in a competition.
9. (military) To carry (a firearm) with the breech near the ground and the upper part inclined forward, the piece being held by the right hand near the middle.
10. To create a trail in.
11. To travel by following or creating trails.
12. To transport (livestock) by herding it along a trail.
13. (dated) To take advantage of the ignorance of; to impose upon.

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

trail (plural trails)

1. The track or indication marking the route followed by something that has passed, such as the footprints of animal on land or the contrail of an airplane in the sky.

   Synonyms: spoor, sign

2. A route for travel over land, especially a narrow, unpaved pathway for use by hikers, horseback riders, etc.

   Synonyms: dirt track, footpath, path, track

3. A route or circuit generally.

4. (television) A trailer broadcast on television for a forthcoming film or programme.
5. (graph theory) A walk in which all the edges are distinct.
6. The horizontal distance from where the wheel touches the ground to where the steering axis intersects the ground.

Derived terms

Descendants

• → German: Trail
• → Russian: трейл (trejl)

Translations

See also

• path
• track

Anagrams

• TRALI, irtal, litra, trial

French

Pronunciation

Noun

trail m (plural trails)

1. dual-sport motorcycle
2. trail running