trail

present singular third person trails · participle present trailing · participle past trailed · past trailed

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

   The hunters trailed their prey deep into the woods.

   1 more example

   Nine months before she was taken in October 1994, Jodi was out jogging in Mason City before realizing she was being trailed. She noted the stalker was driving a black truck and reported the matter to the authorities.

   2026 August 10, Nicholas Muhoro, “Jodi Huisentruit, 27, Vanished From Her Apartment Parking Lot in 1995. Police Found Signs of a Struggle”, in Skip Boring, archived from the original on 11 Aug 2026

2. transitiveTo drag (something) behind on the ground.

   You'll get your coat all muddy if you trail it around like that.

   3 more examples

   Our little life is but a gust That bends the branches of thy tree, And trails its blossoms in the dust!

   1896, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, page 287

   "I saw your brother—I saw your brother," he said, nodding his head, as Archer lagged past him, trailing his spade, and scowling at the old gentleman in spectacles.

   1922 October 26, Virginia Woolf, chapter 1, in Jacob’s Room, Richmond, London: […] Leonard & Virginia Woolf at the Hogarth Press, →OCLC; republished London: The Hogarth Press, 1960, →OCLC

   Cottrell says the whale named Smoke was trailing more than 50 metres of line and gear, while still travelling quickly despite the entanglement, and it took them several hours to locate and free the animal.

   2024 July 27, The Canadian Press, “Rescuers untangle gear from humpback whale off B.C.'s coast”, in CBC News, archived from the original on 15 Dec 2025

3. transitiveTo leave (a trail of).

   He walked into the house, soaking wet, and trailed water all over the place.

4. transitiveTo 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.

   His new film was trailed on TV last night.

   1 more example

   There were no surprises in this morning's much-trailed budget statement.

5. intransitiveTo hang or drag loosely behind; to move with a slow sweeping motion.

   Her curly hair trailed along her shoulders and down her back.

   3 more examples

   The bride's long dress trailed behind her as she walked down the aisle.

   Even now I behold a sign, A threatening of wrath divine, A watery, wandering star, through whose streaming hair, and the white Unfolding garments of light, That trail behind it afar, The constellations shine!

   1871, The Divine Tragedy, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

   Cumberland sausage is about half as thick as your wrist and extends in a single rope several feet long, so that Mistrootchinson [Mister Hutchinson, the butcher], having weighed you one end while the other trailed over the edge of the scale, would then cut it for you like a draper selling a length of tape.

   1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 62

6. intransitiveTo run or climb like certain plants.

   The flowers glowed red and golden: snapdragons and sunflowers, and nasturtians trailing all over the turf walls and peeping in at the round windows.

   1954 July 29, J.R.R. Tolkien, “I: A Long-Expected Party”, in The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings; 1), →ISBN

7. intransitiveTo drag oneself lazily or reluctantly along.

   Our parents marched to church and we trailed behind.

8. To be losing, to be behind in a competition.

   Neil Lennon and his players have, in almost no time at all, roared back from trailing Rangers by 15 points in November to ending the year two points clear.

   2011 December 29, Keith Jackson, “SPL: Celtic 1 Rangers 0”, in Daily Record, archived from the original on 05 Jan 2012

9. governmentTo 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.

    The sun shone on burnished bodies and arm-bands, and robes of beaver trailed the grass as majestic fellows trod back and forth in the passion of eloquence.

    1893 August, Mary Hartwell Catherwood, “The White Islander”, in The Century

    4 more examples

    […] was no mean judge of racing and, having a suspicion of the possible result, she secreted a lemon in the commodious recesses of a dress which, while the height of fashion in those times, nevertheless trailed the grass.

    1929, Frank Proctor, Fox Hunting in Canada and Some Men who Made it, page 162

    Because of the potential damages caused by social trailing, regulations stipulate that all permits are void when a group obtains multiple permits for the same campground or use area for the same night.

    1975, Federal Procedural Forms, Lawyers Edition - Volume 14, page 241

    The monument would use the floowing indicators to determine when and where visitor allocations need to be made: (1) resource damage (e.g., proliferation of campsites, human waste problems, social trailing or vandalism to historical, archaeological, paleontological sites, or destruction of biological soil crusts), […]

    1999, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, page 2-19

    In my mind's eye, I looked down at the toes of high-topped, lace-up leather boots, peeking from under a long brown skirt that bent the grass sideways as it trailed the ground and tented gently outward with every step.

    2018, Amy E. Weldon, The Writer's Eye, page 77

11. To travel by following or creating trails.

    Trailed three miles down the North side and encamped early, making thirteen miles trailed to-day.

    1906, The Quarterly of the Oregon Historical Society, page 352

    3 more examples

    In accordance with the treaty of 1842 they crossed the Missouri River to a reservation in Kansas. Poor crops, however, and a feverish climate made them unhappy in their new home: they trailed back to Iowa.

    1915, Jacob Van der Zee, Early History of Lead Mining in the Iowa Country, page 8

    But we did not see him and now, in the big heat of noon, we made three long circles around some hills and finally came out into a meadow full of little, humpy Masai cattle and, leaving all shade behind, trailed back across the open country under the noon sun to the car.

    1935, Ernest Hemmingway, Green Hills of Africa, page 164

    That control became visible each spring when they trailed back out of the low country to summer range.

    1982, David Lavender, Colorado River Country, page 144

12. To transport (livestock) by herding it along a trail.

    In all areas where trails are present, stock must remain on the trails. Free trailing or loose herding is not permitted.

    2008, Ron Kay, Ron Kay's Guide to Zion National Park, page 78

    3 more examples

    One operator on the Boise Forest in Idaho reports that where he formerly marketed 80-pound lambs after trailing them 10 days from the allotment, his lambs now often tip the scales at 100 pounds or better, mainly because only one day is required to transport an entire shipment to the railroad through the use of truck pullmans.

    1939, Pacific Stockman - Volumes 5-7

    Genesis, the first book of the Holy Bible, relates the earliest known instance of cattle being trailed to better grass lands (unless Noah's trip with the ark is one).

    1956, John O. Bye, Back Trailing in the Heart of the Short-grass Country, page 6

    The most impressive long-distance traders, however, were the backcountry drovers, who trailed herds of livestock up the wagon road to Philadelphia (Merrens 1964:135; Bridenbaugh 1971:138).

    1989, John Solomon Otto, The Southern Frontiers, 1607-1860, page 53

13. datedTo take advantage of the ignorance of; to impose upon.

    I presently perceived she was (what is vernacularly termed) trailing Mrs. Dent; that is, playing on her ignorance.

    1847 October 16, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], Jane Eyre. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Smith, Elder, and Co., […], →OCLC

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.

   condensation trail

   2 more examples

   The trail has gone cold.

   data trail, paper trail

   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.

   Politicians are on the campaign trail in preparation for this year's election.

4. broadcastingA trailer broadcast on television for a forthcoming film or programme.
5. graph theoryA 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.

1. A city in British Columbia, Canada.
2. A city in Polk County, Minnesota, United States.
3. A census-designated place in Jackson County, Oregon, United States.