back trailn.
Chiefly U.S.
= back track n.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, path, or track > track, trail, or path > [noun] > back
back track1724
back trail1869
1832 Polit. Examiner (Shelbyville, Kentucky) 14 July 1/4 The whites..discovered that they had taken the back trail.
1869 C. L. Brace New West viii. 99 There's that darn'd mule on the back trail agin!
1891 M. E. Ryan Told in Hills ii. ix. 254 You can strike the back trail as soon as you've a mind to.
1908 C. E. Mulford Orphan xi. 132 One of his men..knelt behind a rock, his rifle covering the back trail.
1916 ‘Anzac’ On Anzac Trail 105 Our little party now came to the conclusion that it was time to take the back trail.
Derivatives
ˈback-trail v. transitive and intransitive.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > aspects of travel > travel in specific course or direction > direct one's course [verb (intransitive)] > turn back or retrace one's steps
charec1000
i-cherrec1000
again-wendOE
again-turna1375
to turn backc1425
reflect1608
redambulate1623
to tread back one's steps1777
back track1802
to try back1816
back-track1904
back-trail1907
the world > movement > progressive motion > order of movement > following behind > follow [verb (transitive)] > follow (a track or trail) > follow track or trail of
troda1250
tracec1440
track1565
train1575
tract1577
hunt1579
foot1581
trail1590
to tread the feet of1596
insist1631
pad1861
sleuth1905
back-trail1907
back-track1925
1907 R. Dunn Shameless Diary of Explorer xix. 260 It was swim or back trail, if we didn't like it.
1924 A. J. Small Frozen Gold i. 33 They back trailed him as far as Five Fingers and there the trail ended.
1926 R. A. Bennet Boss of Diamond A 163 He circled his hat in a full-armed overhead sweep, as a signal for them to back-trail.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1933; most recently modified version published online September 2020).
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n.1832