[syn: decipher, trace]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Trace \Trace\, n. [F. trais. pl. of trait. See Trait.]
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.
[1913 Webster]
2. (Mech.) 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.
[Webster 1913 Suppl.]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Trace \Trace\, n. [F. trace. See Trace, v. t. ]
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.
--Milton.
[1913 Webster]
2. (Chem. & Min.) 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.
[1913 Webster]
3. A mark, impression, or visible appearance of anything left
when the thing itself no longer exists; remains; token;
vestige.
[1913 Webster]
The shady empire shall retain no trace
Of war or blood, but in the sylvan chase. --Pope.
[1913 Webster]
4. (Descriptive Geom. & Persp.) The intersection of a plane
of projection, or an original plane, with a coordinate
plane.
[1913 Webster]
5. (Fort.) The ground plan of a work or works.
[1913 Webster]
Syn.-Vestige; mark; token. See Vestige.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Trace \Trace\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. traced; p. pr. & vb. n.
tracing.] [OF. tracier, F. tracer, from (assumed) LL.
tractiare, fr.L. tractus, p. p. of trahere to draw. Cf.
Abstract, Attract, Contract, Portratt, Tract,
Trail, Train, Treat. ]
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.
[1913 Webster]
Some faintly traced features or outline of the
mother and the child, slowly lading into the
twilight of the woods. --Hawthorne.
[1913 Webster]
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. --Cowper.
[1913 Webster]
You may trace the deluge quite round the globe. --T.
Burnet.
[1913 Webster]
I feel thy power . . . to trace the ways
Of highest agents. --Milton.
[1913 Webster]
3. Hence, to follow the trace or track of.
[1913 Webster]
How all the way the prince on footpace traced.
--Spenser.
[1913 Webster]
4. To copy; to imitate.
[1913 Webster]
That servile path thou nobly dost decline,
Of tracing word, and line by line. --Denham.
[1913 Webster]
5. To walk over; to pass through; to traverse.
[1913 Webster]
We do tracethis alley up and down. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Trace \Trace\, v. i.
To walk; to go; to travel. [Obs.]
[1913 Webster]
Not wont on foot with heavy arms to trace. --Spenser.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
trace
n 1: a just detectable amount; "he speaks French with a trace of
an accent" [syn: trace, hint, suggestion]
2: an indication that something has been present; "there wasn't
a trace of evidence for the claim"; "a tincture of
condescension" [syn: trace, vestige, tincture,
shadow]
3: a suggestion of some quality; "there was a touch of sarcasm
in his tone"; "he detected a ghost of a smile on her face"
[syn: touch, trace, 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 [syn: tracing, trace]
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
or animal or vehicle
v 1: follow, discover, or ascertain the course of development of
something; "We must follow closely the economic development
is Cuba" ; "trace the student's progress" [syn: trace,
follow]
2: make a mark or lines on a surface; "draw a line"; "trace the
outline of a figure in the sand" [syn: trace, draw,
line, describe, delineate]
3: to go back over again; "we retraced the route we took last
summer"; "trace your path" [syn: trace, retrace]
4: pursue or chase relentlessly; "The hunters traced the deer
into the woods"; "the detectives hounded the suspect until
they found him" [syn: hound, hunt, trace]
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; "Can you decipher this letter?"; "The
archeologist traced the hieroglyphs" [syn: decipher,
trace]
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
400 Moby Thesaurus words for "trace":
CRT spot, DM display, Doppler signal, IF signal, IM display,
Photostat, RF echoes, Xerox, account, afterglow, afterimage,
annals, aroma, ascertain, balance, beam, beat signal, bit, blaze,
blaze a trail, blemish, blips, block in, block out, blotch,
bounces, brand, breath, brief, butt, butt end, candle ends,
cartoon, cast, catalog, catch a likeness, catchword, chaff, chalk,
chalk out, chalk up, character, characterize, charcoal, chart,
check, check off, chronicle, cicatrize, clone, clue, color,
companion, condensation trail, contrail, copy, copy out,
correspondence, course, crayon, crosshatch, cue, cue word, dapple,
dash, dash off, daub, dead ringer, debris, define, definite odor,
delimit, delineate, demarcate, depict, design, detect,
detectable odor, determine, detritus, diagram, discolor, discover,
display, ditto, documentation, dog, doodle, dot, double,
double-dot display, draft, draw, draw up, drop, dupe, duplicate,
echo, echo signal, edit, effigy, effluvium, emanation, end, enface,
engrave, engross, essence, evidence, exact likeness, exhalation,
facsimile, fag end, fellow, filings, find, find out, flavor, fleck,
follow, follow a clue, follow up, footprints, fossil, fragrance,
freckle, fume, gash, get, gleam, hatch, hectograph, hint, history,
hit, hit off, holdover, hot lead, hunt down, hunt up, husks, icon,
idea, idol, image, impress, imprint, indication, infusion, inkling,
inscribe, intimation, invent, inventory, investigate, iota, jot,
key, key word, lead, leavings, leftovers, letters, lick, likeness,
limn, line, list, living image, living picture,
local oscillator signal, locate, look, make a mark,
make a recension, make out, manifold, map, mark, mark off,
mark out, match, mate, memento, memorial, microcopy, microfilm,
mimeo, mimeograph, miniature, mirroring, model, mottle, multigraph,
nick, nose, nose out, notate, notch, odds and ends, odor,
offscourings, orts, outline, output signal, paint, paint a picture,
parings, path, pen, pencil, pepper, photograph, picture, picturize,
pipe roll, pips, piste, point, portrait, portray, prick, print,
prints, proof, punch, punctuate, puncture, pursue, push the pen,
put in writing, quadruplicate, radar signal, rags, reading,
recense, record, recording, rediscover, redolence, reduplicate,
reflection, refuse, register, registry, relic, relics, remainder,
remains, remnant, render, replicate, represent, reproduce,
resemblance, residue, residuum, rest, return, return signal,
revise, rewrite, riddle, roach, roll, rolls, roster, rota,
rough in, rough out, rub, rubbing, rubbish, ruins, rump, run down,
run to earth, sauce, savor, sawdust, scar, scarify, scent,
schematize, scintilla, score, scotch, scourings, scraps, scratch,
scrive, scroll, scumble, seal, seam, search for, seasoning, seek,
semblance, shade, shadow, shavings, sign, signal, signal display,
signs, similitude, simulacrum, sip, sketch, smack, smattering,
smell, smell out, sniff out, soupcon, spark, speck, speckle, spice,
spill ink, spit and image, spitting image, splotch, spoil paper,
spoor, spot, sprinkling, stain, stalk, stamp, stat, stench,
stencil, stigmatize, strain, straw, streak, striate, strike,
stripe, stubble, stump, subtle odor, suggestion, sup, superscribe,
survival, suspicion, sweepings, symbolize, table, tail, taint,
take a rubbing, target image, taste, tattoo, telltale, tempering,
thought, tick, tick off, tinct, tincture, tinge, tint, tip-off,
token, touch, trace down, trace out, trace over, traces, tracing,
track, track down, tracks, trail, transcribe, transmitter signal,
tread, trifle, triplicate, twin, type, underline, underscore,
unearth, vapor trail, very image, very picture, vestige,
video signal, wake, waste, whiff, write, write down, write out