D defs.my
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Entry 13 senses · 4 variants Webster, 1913

Trace

/trās/ · IPA /tɹeɪs/
01 n. One of two straps, chains, or ropes of a harness, extending from the collar or breastplate to a whiffletree attached to a vehicle or thing …
  1. 1.
    One of two straps, chains, or ropes of a harness, extending from the collar or breastplate to a whiffletree attached to a vehicle or thing to be drawn; a tug.
  2. 2.
    A connecting bar or rod, pivoted at each end to the end of another piece, for transmitting motion, esp. from one plane to another; specif., such a piece in an organ-stop action to transmit motion from the trundle to the lever actuating the stop slider.(Mech.)
02 n. A mark left by anything passing; a track; a path; a course; a footprint; a vestige; as, the trace of a carriage or sled; the trace of a dee…
  1. 1.
    A mark left by anything passing; a track; a path; a course; a footprint; a vestige; as, the trace of a carriage or sled; the trace of a deer; a sinuous trace.
  2. 2.
    A very small quantity of an element or compound in a given substance, especially when so small that the amount is not quantitatively determined in an analysis; -- hence, in stating an analysis, often contracted to tr.(Chem. & Min.)
  3. 3.
    A mark, impression, or visible appearance of anything left when the thing itself no longer exists; remains; token; vestige.
    “The shady empire shall retain no trace Of war or blood, but in the sylvan chase.” — Pope.
  4. 4.
    The intersection of a plane of projection, or an original plane, with a coordinate plane.(Descriptive Geom. & Persp.)
  5. 5.
    The ground plan of a work or works.(Fort.)
Syn. Vestige; mark; token. See Vestige.
03 v. t. To mark out; to draw or delineate with marks; especially, to copy, as a drawing or engraving, by following the lines and marking them on a …
imp. & p. p. traced; p. pr. & vb. n. tracing
  1. 1.
    To mark out; to draw or delineate with marks; especially, to copy, as a drawing or engraving, by following the lines and marking them on a sheet superimposed, through which they appear; as, to trace a figure or an outline; a traced drawing.
    “Some faintly traced features or outline of the mother and the child, slowly lading into the twilight of the woods.” — Hawthorne.
  2. 2.
    To follow by some mark that has been left by a person or thing which has preceded; to follow by footsteps, tracks, or tokens.
    “You may trace the deluge quite round the globe.” — T. Burnet.
    “I feel thy power . . . to trace the ways Of highest agents.” — Milton.
  3. 3.
    Hence, to follow the trace or track of.
    “How all the way the prince on footpace traced.” — Spenser.
  4. 4.
    To copy; to imitate.
    “That servile path thou nobly dost decline, Of tracing word, and line by line.” — Denham.
  5. 5.
    To walk over; to pass through; to traverse.
    “We do tracethis alley up and down.” — Shak.
04 v. i. To walk; to go; to travel.
  1. 1.
    To walk; to go; to travel.[Obs.]
    “Not wont on foot with heavy arms to trace.” — Spenser.