trailn.1
/treɪl/, U.S. /treɪl/ I. Something that trails or hangs trailing.† 1.
a. The train of a robe or other garment. Obsolete.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > parts of clothing > [noun] > train
tail1297
traina1393
traila1400
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 28020 Yee leuedis..Thoru your trail bath wide and side, Es not at seke to find your pride.
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 499/1 Trayle, or trayne of a clothe, sirma.
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory (1905) iv. xii. 503/2 The traile or traine of this great mantle was layd on his left shoulder.
b. A trailing or hanging article of clothing.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > [noun] > other > article of
surplice1382
cento1610
fit1831
Tom and Jerry1832
breaster1841
princess cut1877
frump1886
trail1896
turn-down1896
peekaboo1908
see-through1937
zip-up1942
smart casual1943
classic1948
hipster1948
A-line1955
polo1967
tube1975
1896 J. M. Barrie Sentimental Tommy x The shrewd blasts cutting through my thin trails of claithes.
c. A long trailing or loose-hanging slender mass of hair, fibres, or the like; ‘any thing drawn to length’ (Johnson).
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the world > space > relative position > support > hanging or suspension > [noun] > that which hangs or is suspended > trailingly
trailera1652
trailing1727
streamer1810
trail1844
swab1862
tangle1864
1844 E. B. Browning Portrait iii Oval cheeks..Which a trail of golden hair Keeps from fading off to air.
1881 R. D. Blackmore Christowell (1882) iii Running up to him, with her long grape-scissors in her hand, and a trail of bast around her neck.
2.
a. A trailing ornament (carved, moulded, or embroidered) in the form of a wreath or spray of leaves or tendrils; a wreathed or foliated ornament. [Some take this, and especially 2b, as belonging to trail n.2; probably the two words tended to run together.]
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society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > ornamental art and craft > pattern or design > [noun] > foliage
maple leaf1394
vinea1400
vinet1412
traila1423
garlandc1524
foilery1527
wreath?1586
leaf work1592
foliage1598
sprig1613
branching1652
leafage1658
leafing1688
acanthus leaf1703
feuillage1714
sprigging1775
foliature1814
pampre1842
palmette1850
vine-scroll1886
olive acanthus1888
foliage-border1891
branched work-
a1423 in Archaeologia 61 171 ij Fiols of on sute of silver and gild, Graven aboute wt a traille of Ive levys.
1454 in J. Raine Testamenta Eboracensia (1855) II. 175 A couered pece with a trele of roses opon ye couerynge.
1480–1 in W. H. St. J. Hope Windsor Castle (1913) II. 401 Ac lxii pedum de lez Traillez et Crestes.
a1536 Building Acct. in E. Law Hist. Hampton Court (1885) App. C. 352 To Robert Skyngke..moulder of Antyke-worke, for a trayle of antyk sett in the great Joull-pece in the Kynges new Hall, conteynyng 71 yards in leyngthe, 8 inches brode, at 16 d. the yard.
1551 J. Williams Acct. Monastic Treasures (1836) 52 A riche cope of crymsyn veluet..embrodred all ower with a traile and Fawcions of Venice golde.
1557–8 in W. H. St. J. Hope Windsor Castle (1913) I. 260 The armes of England and Spaine with the treales to the same.
a1618 J. Sylvester Ode to Astræa vii That soft Sattin limme, With blew trayles enameld trimme.
1869 C. Boutell tr. J. P. Lacombe Arms & Armour v. 78 A trail of foliage,..filled the space between the angular bands.
b. A wreath or spray of (natural) leaves, etc.; a trailing tendril or branch. (Cf. 1c.)
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the world > plants > plants collectively > [noun] > tuft, clump, or cluster of plants
hassockc1450
tuft?1523
tusk1530
tush1570
hill1572
dollop1573
clumpa1586
rush1593
trail1597
tussock1607
wreath1610
stool1712
tump1802
sheaf1845
massif1888
the world > plants > part of plant > shoot, sprout, or branch > [noun] > tendril or twining shoot
tenaclec1500
tendril1538
clasp1577
clasper1577
winder1577
capreol1578
taglet1578
twine1579
string1585
trail1597
tress1605
nervelet1648
cirrus1708
clavicle1725
twister1799
bine1808
1597 M. Drayton Englands Heroicall Epist. f. 3 A little Current..Which like a wanton trayle creepes heere and there.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iv, in tr. Virgil Wks. 127 The late Narcissus, and the winding Trail Of Bears-foot, Myrtles green, and Ivy pale. View more context for this quotation
1725 R. Bradley Chomel's Dictionaire Œconomique at Strawberry As soon as they shoot forth their Trails, you must take care to cut 'em.
1833 H. Martineau Cinnamon & Pearls iii They had never entangled their feet in trails of the blue convolvulus.
a1861 T. Woolner Her Shadow in My Beautiful Lady vii Nigh clad in trails of tangled eglantine.
c. attributive or as adj.
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society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > ornamental art and craft > pattern or design > [adjective] > foliage
trail1533
vined1577
foliaged1754
arboresque1861
phyllomorphic1882
1533 Hampton Court Accts. in E. Law Hist. Hampton Court (1885) 352 71 yardes in length and 8 inches brode, of trayle moldyd worke.
a1657 G. Daniel Trinarchodia in Poems (1878) III. To Rdr. 131 Speed, Cutt in sippetts, Trussell, layd about For a trayle Garnish.
c1660 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1644 (1955) II. 130 Next the streete side..are knolls in trayle or grasse Worke.
1684 London Gaz. No. 1944/4 A Petticoat of Musk coloured Silk,..the Flowers Trail Silver.
II. Something trailed or made by trailing.† 3. A sledge [= Latin tragula] . Obsolete.
ΘΠ
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > vehicles according to means of motion > vehicle moving on runners > [noun]
car1488
harrow15..
trail1570
sladea1585
slidec1692
carriole1761
carryall1797
trail-cart1803
jumper1823
toboggan1829
konaki1914
1570 P. Levens Manipulus Vocabulorum sig. Qiii/1 A Trayle, sledde, traha.
1576 Inventory in J. T. Fowler Acts Church SS. Peter & Wilfrid, Ripon (1875) 379 For a traile to hym, xijd.
1577 D. Settle True Rep. Voy. Frobisher sig. Cvv They franck or keep certeine doggs..whiche they yoke together, as we do oxen and horses, to a sled or traile: and so carrie their necessaries ouer the yce and snowe.
1588 in W. Greenwell Wills & Inventories Registry Durham (1860) II. 330 ij long lethers, j traile, ij flekes, j nowt heck, 12s.
4. A dragnet [= Latin tragula] . Also trail-net: see Compounds 1 (Also figurative)
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the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > fishing-tackle > net > [noun] > drag-net
dray-netc1000
pullc1303
draw-net1386
dredge1471
drag1481
dragneta1542
train1576
tug-net1584
trainel1585
draught-net1630
trawl-net1697
trail1711
trawl1759
trail-net1820
pole trawl1836
train net1864
otter trawlc1870
turn-net1883
pair trawl1967
1711 W. King tr. G. Naudé Polit. Considerations Refin'd Politicks v. 198 The first that made trails, and found out casting-nets to make men captives.
1807 P. Gass Jrnls. 29 The fish here are generally pike... What we caught were taken with trails or brush nets.
5. The hinder end of the stock of a gun-carriage, which rests or slides on the ground when the carriage is unlimbered. Cf. train n.2 5.
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > gun carriage > [noun] > trail
train1702
trail1768
bracket-trail1865
1768 J. Muller Treat. Artillery (ed. 2) Vocab. Trail, is the end of the travelling carriage opposite to the wheels, and upon which the carriage slides, when unlimbered.
1803 Duke of Wellington Dispatches (1837) II. 565 There is no remedy,..excepting to lengthen considerably the trail of the carriage.
1868 C. B. Norton & W. J. Valentine Rep. to Govt. U.S. on Munitions of War at Paris Universal Exhib. 1867 95 The gun is mounted on a field-carriage, with trail of the usual form.
6. Anything drawn behind as an appendage; a body or collection of things or persons, drawn along by, or following in the wake of, something or some one, or moving steadily along in a lengthened formation so as to suggest this; a train.
ΘΠ
the world > movement > progressive motion > order of movement > following behind > [noun] > one who or that which
trail1629
1629 F. Quarles Argalus & Parthenia iii. 105 A rising Sunne..From whence ten thousand trailes of gold came down In waued poynts.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics i, in tr. Virgil Wks. 64 Seeming Stars..shooting through the darkness..With..long trails of Light. View more context for this quotation
1770 J. Langhorne & W. Langhorne tr. Plutarch Lives (1851) I. 282/1 Dreadful thunders..mingled with long trails of lightning.
1856 E. B. Browning Aurora Leigh i. 4 From which long trail of chanting priests and girls.
1872 W. Black Strange Adventures Phaeton xx The wind was apparent in the hurrying trails of cloud.
7.
a. A mark left where something has been trailed or has passed along; a trace, track. Also figurative.
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society > communication > indication > marking > a mark > trace or vestige > [noun] > left by the passage of something
swathc888
forec1250
vorea1387
tracec1420
track1470
rut1552
fore-step1562
cart-rut1601
trail1610
strake1617
cart-ritta1657
cart-ruck1820
wheel-spura1825
wake1851
1610 J. Guillim Display of Heraldrie ii. vii. 65 Vpton termeth it in Latine, Tractus, which signifieth a Trace or Traile, because the Field is seene both within and without it; and the Traile it selfe is drawen thereupon in a different colour. [See tract n.3 6(a).]
1727 J. Gay Fables I. xxiv. 82 A Snail,..with slimy trail Crawls o'er the grass.
1817 T. Moore Paradise & Peri in Lalla Rookh But the trail of the serpent is over them all.
1834 F. Marryat Peter Simple II. x. 165 I used to watch them [sc. sharks] during the night-watch, as their fins, above water, skimmed along, leaving a trail of light behind them.
1856 E. B. Browning Aurora Leigh ii. 44 Brushing a green trail across the lawn With my gown in the dew.
1864 W. W. Skeat tr. J. L. Uhland Songs & Ballads 124 The heights were touched with May's fair golden trail.
1899 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. VIII. 865 In the imperfectly washed, a trail of dirt marks the course of the burrow [of the itch insect].
b. spec. in astronomical photography, The line or trace produced by the motion of the image of a star across the plate during exposure.
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the world > the universe > cosmology > science of observation > astronomical instruments > observational instruments > [noun] > stars > trace on photographic plate during exposure
trail1889
1889 Internat. Ann. Anthonys Photogr. Bull. 185 On developing numerous stars will be found which are invisible to the naked eye. The stars will all leave trails, forming arcs of concentric circles whose center lies near the center of the plate.
1891 Internat. Ann. Anthonys Photogr. Bull. 83 When the plate is developed it will contain a series of lines or trails produced by the light of the star as it crossed the plate.
8.
a. spec. The track or other indication, as scent, left by a person or animal, esp. as followed by a huntsman or hound, or by any pursuer. Also figurative.
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the world > animals > animals hunted > trail > [noun]
feutea1375
treadc1400
fewea1425
racka1467
train1568
foiling1575
slot1575
trail1590
fuse1611
piste1696
spoor1823
sign1851
slotting1909
society > communication > indication > marking > a mark > trace or vestige > [noun] > left by the passage of something > of a person or animal
sleuthc1175
footstepa1300
feutea1375
treadc1400
fewea1425
foil1575
trail1590
carriage1600
sign1692
piste1696
spoor1823
worm-track1859
met1914
1590 T. Cokayne Treat. Hunting D ij b Take your [otter] houndes to the place..and cast your traylors off vpon the trayle you thinke best.
1604 W. Shakespeare Hamlet iv. v. 107 How cheerefully on the false traile they cry, O this is counter you false Danish dogges. View more context for this quotation
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 152 The best manner to teach these hounds, is to take a liue Hare and trayle her after you vpon the earth..and..afterward set forth your hound neere the traile.
1736 Compl. Family-piece ii. i. 215 A sure Sign they are upon the Scent; that is, where the Fox hath passed that Night, and it is called a Drag or Trail.
1805 Z. M. Pike Acct. Exped. Sources Mississippi (1810) 38 I was determined..if we came on the trail of elk, to follow them..in order to kill one.
1806 Z. M. Pike Acct. Exped. Sources Mississippi (1810) 57 My sentinel informed us, that some Indians were coming full speed upon our trail or track.
1827 J. F. Cooper Prairie iii Did you ever run him upon the trail of carrion?
1837 W. Irving Capt. Bonneville (1849) 111 Vandenburgh put himself upon their trail, to trace them to their place of concealment.
a1859 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. (1861) V. xxiv. 143 The Spanish Ambassador..followed the trail with such skill and perseverance that he discovered, if not the whole truth, yet enough [etc.].
1888 P. Lindley in Times 16 Oct. 10/5 The hound..took up the stale trail over some rather trying ground without a fault.
b. Something strong-smelling trailed or drawn along the ground to produce a scent for hounds to follow: = drag n. 6b.
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the world > food and drink > hunting > equipment > [noun] > drag
train1558
train-scent1593
trail-scent1682
trail1763
drag1841
scent bag1889
1763 Brit. Mag. 4 553 They ran after a trail drawn by a man on horseback about 10 minutes before the hounds started.
1781 P. Beckford Thoughts on Hunting vi. 80 A cat is as good a trail as any.
9. A path or track worn by the passage of persons travelling in a wild or uninhabited region; a beaten track, a rude path. (Chiefly U.S. and Canadian; also New Zealand and Australian.) Cf. nature trail n. at nature n. Compounds 4b.
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society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, path, or track > track, trail, or path > [noun]
styc725
patheOE
stighta1340
trod-gatea1400
tread14..
pathwaya1450
terry1563
trod1570
trade way1589
track1643
trod-way1660
drifta1711
roadie1768
loke1787
trace1807
trail1807
trackway1818
mud pike1851
dirt track1902
1807 P. Gass Jrnls. 125 We proceeded down the river through dreadful narrows, where the rocks were in some places breast high, and no path or trail of any kind.
1860 J. Burnett Let. 15 Mar. in H. F. von Haast Life & Times Sir Julius von Haast (1948) viii. 85 Crossed the Alexander stream and struck Mackay's last year's trail.
1875 J. H. Temple & G. Sheldon Hist. Northfield, Mass. 50 Indian Paths—which were narrow trails worn by the feet in marching single file—crossed the country in various directions.
1894 C. L. Johnstone Canada 81 A trail, as the Canadians call the tracks which do instead of roads.
1939 Florida: Guide to Southernmost State (Federal Writers' Project) i. 117 In Hillsboro River State Park..are overnight cabins, trails, roads, and a museum.
1958 Tararua 25 A trail seems to be something narrow and perhaps rather hard to follow—a way marked only by blazes or worn by animals, usually deer. A track seems to be something broader, cut or formed by man.
1968 Mrs. L. B. Johnson Diary 2 Oct. in White House Diary (1970) 714 A system of urban and rural trails, including the Pacific Coast Trail from Mexico to Canada.
1968 K. Weatherly Roo Shooter 47 The ancestors of the roos used this path. It was miles wide and invisible... When this country is closely settled and these trails are sealed, the red kangaroos will die out.
1977 Times 23 Apr. 12/5 There are well marked trails for independent hikers.
1977 Times 23 Apr. 12/7 The benefit of camping and picnic grounds, walking and hiking trails.
1982 G. M. Fraser Flashman & Redskins 161 From Santa Fe to Algodones on the river the trail was dotted that night with emigrant camp-fires.
10. Geology. A name for certain mixed glacial or other deposits resting upon older formations.So called as apparently marking the track of floating ice.
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the world > the earth > structure of the earth > structural features > deposited by water, ice, or wind > [noun] > glacial
trail1866
valley train1892
sandr1893
ice contact1896
postglacial1928
boulder-train1967
1866 O. Fisher in Q. Jrnl. Geol. Soc. 20 June 555 I have found that cylindrical pits and pipes are generally confined to soluble beds, and that the normal form of the cavities in clays, sands, and gravels is that of troughs or furrows. They are usually filled with materials derived from some neighbouring higher ground... For the sake of a name I shall call the materials which fill these furrows the ‘trail’.
1882 A. Geikie Text-bk. Geol. vi. v. ii. §2. 908 A remarkable bed of clay, loam, and gravel (‘loess’ or ‘trail’).
1884 W. G. Smith in Jrnl. Anthropol. Inst. 13 358 The whole of the ‘Palæolithic floor’ is..covered with the ‘warp and trail’ belonging to the last geological period of great cold.
1897 Archaeol. Jrnl. Dec. 375 Where the flints are buried, in the ‘head’ or ‘rain wash’ or ‘run o' th' hills’ or trail, or whatever we may call the surface accumulation.
11. Radio and Television. A piece of advance publicity (often an excerpt) broadcast prior to the transmission of a programme. Cf. trail v.1 4; trailer n. 4b.
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society > communication > broadcasting > a broadcast programme or item > [noun] > types of
news bulletin1857
news summary1875
police message1886
newsflash1904
headline1908
play-by-play1909
feature1913
spot ad1916
magazine1921
news1923
time signal1923
outside broadcast1924
radiocast1924
amateur hour1925
bulletin1925
serial1926
commentary1927
rebroadcast1927
school broadcast1927
feature programme1928
trailer1928
hour1930
schools broadcast1930
show1930
spot advertisement1930
spot announcement1930
sustaining1931
flash1934
newscast1934
commercial1935
clambake1937
remote1937
repeat1937
snap1937
soap opera1939
sportcast1939
spot commercial1939
daytimer1940
magazine programme1941
season1942
soap1943
soaper1946
parade1947
public service announcement1948
simulcasting1949
breakfast-time television1952
call-in1952
talkathon1952
game show1953
kidvid1955
roundup1958
telenovela1961
opt-out1962
miniseries1963
simulcast1964
soapie1964
party political1966
novela1968
phone-in1968
sudser1968
schools programme1971
talk-in1971
God slot1972
roadshow1973
trail1973
drama-doc1977
informercial1980
infotainment1980
infomercial1981
kideo1983
talk-back1984
indie1988
omnibus1988
teleserye2000
kidult-
1973 Listener 6 Dec. 798/1 Accidentally switching on early..on Radio 3..I heard..off-putting trails.
1980 Broadcast 7 July 24/3 The TV Presentation Department..make hundreds of commercials every year in the form of programme trails.
III. Action of trailing.
12. The action of dragging oneself or something along, or of creeping or crawling; also dialect, a tiring walk. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > reptiles > order Squamata (lizards and snakes) > suborder Ophidia (snakes) > [noun] > action of creeping or crawling
traila1547
the world > movement > impelling or driving > pushing and pulling > [noun] > pulling
drawingc1300
draughta1398
pullinga1425
draggingc1440
halingc1440
lugging?a1500
attraction1578
toilingc1600
trainage1611
hale1615
traction1615
hauling1626
trail1674
tracting1780
haulage1826
pull1833
drawal1936
a1547 Earl of Surrey tr. Virgil Certain Bks. Aenæis (1557) ii. sig. Biv The serpentes twine [= twain] with hasted traile they glide To Pallas temple.
1674 N. Fairfax Treat. Bulk & Selvedge 141 The souls business in the wagon or vehicle of the body is..rather to ride in state than to ride post, ennobling the body by its curious draughts and trails of enlivening sprightlinesses.
1876 F. K. Robinson Gloss. Words Whitby ‘A lang trail’, a tiresome journey.
13. The action of hunting by the trail; chase by the track or scent.
ΘΠ
the world > movement > progressive motion > order of movement > following behind > [noun] > following track or trail
tracing1523
investigation1623
vestigation1658
trail1669
trailing1742
spooring1850
pugging1866
1669 J. Dryden Wild Gallant iii. i. 33 To come upon the spur after a trayl at four in the afternoon to destruction of cold meat and cheese.
1902 O. Wister Virginian ix. 105 All winter he had ridden trail, worked at ditches during summer.
14. Military. The act of trailing a rifle, or the position of it when trailed (see trail v.1 2).
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > drill or training > [noun] > weapon-training > manual exercise > position of weapon > specific
chargea1616
recover1692
secure1766
present1777
port arms1795
carry1802
salute1833
trail1833
ready1837
order1847
parade rest1862
slope1868
port1918
1833 Regulations Instr. Cavalry i. i. 29 The barrel of the Light Dragon Carbine may be conveniently examined at the trail.
1847 Infantry Man. (1854) 30 Trail Arms... Bring it down to the trail on the right side.
1847 Infantry Man. (1854) 40 b The short trail must never be used.
1892 W. W. Greener Breech-loader 193 At the ‘trail’, that is, grasped in the right hand, the arm at full length, and the gun horizontal.
15. An act of drawing out, enticing, or befooling. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > cheating, fraud > duping, making a fool of > [noun]
truffingc1480
foolifying1618
coxcombing1664
befooling1677
assification1820
trail1847
befoolment1881
1847 C. Brontë Jane Eyre II. ii. 42 I..perceived she was (what is vernacularly termed) trailing Mrs. Dent; that is, playing on her ignorance: her trail might be clever, but it was decidedly not good-natured.
IV. Someone who trails something.
16. A woman who trails her dress along the ground; an untidy woman, slattern, slut. Scottish.
ΚΠ
1825 J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. Suppl. Trail, a term of reproach for a dirty woman; as, ‘Ye wile trail’, you nasty hussy, Aberd.
1878 A. Paul Random Writings 28 It is a very old saying..that no man should marry a trail, which meant a female who trailed her dress through the gutters.
1901 A. Trotter E. Galloway Sketches 102/2 Come, bring me quick, ye useless trail, The gully knife to sheer the kail.
Compounds
C1. General attributive (some of which may be from trail v.1). See also 2c.
a.
trail-blazer n.
ΘΠ
society > travel > aspects of travel > traveller > [noun] > explorer or discoverer
finder1405
explorer1577
Columbus1593
pioneera1817
explorator1836
pathfinder1840
path-cleaver1896
trail-blazer1908
trail-hound1931
the world > action or operation > prosperity > advancement or progress > [noun] > pioneering or breaking new ground > a pioneer
pioneer1605
outstarter1738
advance guard1759
path-breaker1843
pathfinder1847
torch-bearer1847
path-hewer1879
pacesetter1895
pacemaker1905
trail-blazer1908
style-setter1959
1908 Daily Chron. 19 May 3/2 Mrs. Hubbard's journey..with a small party of ‘trail blazers’ native to the ways of Labrador.
1937 Discovery July p. lix/1 Trail blazers of science.
1972 Daily Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 3 Feb. 8/1 Agriculture Minister Shelford lauded his party as being trailblazers in humanity through fiscal astuteness during the throne speech.
trail-blazing n.
Π
1934 Webster's New Internat. Dict. Eng. Lang. Trail blazing.
1957 V. Packard Hidden Persuaders xxi. 233 Tide, the merchandisers' journal, admonished America's merchandisers to pay attention to this trail-blazing development as it might be ‘tomorrow's marketing target.’
1968 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 3 Feb. 43/3 (advt.) Acres of wonderful wood for trail blazing and riding.
1971 Advocate-News (Barbados) 17 Sept. (Guyana Suppl.) p. iv/3 Volunteers..cleared the last few feet of bush for their historic meeting on top of a hill called Point Jason (after a trail-blazing pioneer who supervises the project).
1973 C. Bonington Next Horizon xxi. 279 We all agreed that it [sc. a climb] was as hard as anything we had ever done, with very little to show for each day's trail-blazing.
b.
trail-breaking n.
ΘΠ
the world > action or operation > prosperity > advancement or progress > [noun] > pioneering or breaking new ground
pioneership1834
path-breaking1886
pace-setting1893
trail-breaking1912
1912 L. J. Vance Destroying Angel xviii. 232 ‘Must I make talk, then?’ she demanded. ‘If we must, I suppose— you'll have to show the way. My mind's hardly equal to trail-breaking to-day.’
1965 T. A. Sebeok in Language XLI. 80 In this trailbreaking paper, he [sc. Trubetzkoy] reduced the supposed multiplicity of vowel patterns to a small number of symmetrical models.
1971 C. Bonington Annapurna South Face xiii. 171 Even in descent it took him an hour, and without his trail-breaking from above Martin and Mike Thompson would have had an exhausting time forcing the route from below.
c.
trail bearing n.
Π
1828 J. M. Spearman Brit. Gunner 116 Trail Bearings. (Cast Iron.)
trail cattle n.
Π
1887 Pall Mall Gaz. 30 Mar. 6/1 Large numbers of trail cattle, driven recklessly into Wyoming in 1881.
trail-cutter n.
Π
1858 Brit. Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 11 Dec. 2/4 The majority of the Lillooet trail cutters would have remained had it not been grossly mismanaged.
1903 A. Adams Log of Cowboy vii. 88 Four..strange men..representing themselves as trail cutters.
1958 Edmonton (Alberta) Jrnl. 24 June 46/1 The trail-cutters work a four-month season in the winter.
trail-herd n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping of cattle > [noun] > herding of cattle > cowherd
cowherda1000
oxherd1281
geldherd1284
nowtherd1296
neatherd1301
drover1384
catcherc1400
caller?a1500
ox-boy1580
neatress1586
harrier1591
cowherdess1611
spurn-cow1614
neatherdess1648
cowgirl1753
herds-woman1818
oxman1820
ranchero1825
topsman1825
vaquero1826
herdsmaiden1829
overlander1841
cattle-herd1845
cowboy1849
buckaroo1852
stock-rider1862
pointer1869
night-herder1870
puncher1870
bull-puncher1872
outrider1872
cowpuncher1873
range man1875
cow-puncher1878
herd-boy1878
cow-girl1884
trail-herd1885
trail boss1890
nighthawk1903
point man1903
swing man1903
top hand1912
charro1926
waddy1927
cattle-puncher1928
cowpoke1928
paniolo1947
1885 Weekly New Mexican Rev. 18 June 1/3 The trail herds in Colfax county must go forward or turn back at once.
1962 G. MacEwan Blazing Old Cattle Trail i. 1 Ever since the Patriarch, Abraham,..stockmen have been driving trail herds to far places.
trail-herder n.
Π
1890 Stock Grower & Farmer 19 Apr. 3/3 Cattle inspectors of New Mexico were holding up trail herders for one and one-half cents per head.
trail-hunting n.
trail-maker n.
Π
1901 Wide World Mag. 8 156/2 A couple of the trail-makers visited the cabin and found the partners there.
1905 Athenæum 5 Aug. 183/2 A series of reprints or translations of the narratives of ‘Trailmakers’, from the earliest times to the close of the eighteenth century.
trail-man n.
Π
1858 Brit. Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 27 Dec. 3/2 The man..was no trail-man but a stranger.
1891 Harper's Mag. Nov. 886/2 The trail-men are sent out to cut what in general parlance would be called a path.
trail-robbery n.
Π
1901 Wide World Mag. 8 154/2 The territory had been remarkably free from serious crime, and trail-robberies were unknown.
trail start n.
Π
1897 Outing 29 439/1 From the trail-start to the death it had been no more than a 15-minutes' run.
trail-trot n.
Π
1895 R. Kipling Second Jungle Bk. 134 They fell into the quick, choppy trail-trot in and out through the checkers of the moonlight.
d.
trail-weary adj.
Π
1894 Outing 24 398/1 The once trail-weary emigrant, the ranchman of to-day, does the freighting..from the railroad town.
C2.
Categories »
trail-bar n. a wooden bar for turning the trail of a gun-carriage in pointing the gun.
trail bike n. originally U.S. a motorcycle designed for use on country tracks rather than on roads.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > powered vehicle > motorcycle > [noun] > for unmade roads
motocrosser1968
scrambler1969
trail bike1969
dirt bike1970
motorcrosser1973
thumper1980
1969 Time 12 Sept. 17 Anyone hoping to escape the..cities for the quiet beauty of our woods, mountains or deserts is in for a rude shock. He is greeted by the rattling snarl of trail bikes, dune-buggies and the like.
1972 Fairbanks (Alaska) Daily News-Miner 3 Nov. 23/5 (advt.) Extended bumper on rear for snowmobile, trail bikes.
1976 New Motorcycling Monthly Oct. 4/4 Yamaha, of course, have reincarnated the good old 500cc four-stroke single, but in trail-bike trim.
trail-board n. a carved piece in a ship: see quot.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > parts of vessels > body of vessel > fore part of vessel > [noun] > carved plank at stem
trail-board1704
fiddle-head1799
billet-head1840
tail-board1841
1704 J. Harris Lexicon Technicum I Traile-board, in a Ship, is a carved Board on each side of her Beak, reaching from her Main Stem to the Figure, or to the Brackets.
trail boss n. U.S. a foreman in charge of a cattle-drive.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping of cattle > [noun] > herding of cattle > cowherd
cowherda1000
oxherd1281
geldherd1284
nowtherd1296
neatherd1301
drover1384
catcherc1400
caller?a1500
ox-boy1580
neatress1586
harrier1591
cowherdess1611
spurn-cow1614
neatherdess1648
cowgirl1753
herds-woman1818
oxman1820
ranchero1825
topsman1825
vaquero1826
herdsmaiden1829
overlander1841
cattle-herd1845
cowboy1849
buckaroo1852
stock-rider1862
pointer1869
night-herder1870
puncher1870
bull-puncher1872
outrider1872
cowpuncher1873
range man1875
cow-puncher1878
herd-boy1878
cow-girl1884
trail-herd1885
trail boss1890
nighthawk1903
point man1903
swing man1903
top hand1912
charro1926
waddy1927
cattle-puncher1928
cowpoke1928
paniolo1947
1890 Stock Grower & Farmer 21 Jan. 6/3 Trail bosses bronzed from exposure..are familiar sights.
1921 C. E. Mulford Bar-20 Three xvii. 224 Six sleeping men piled from their bunks and..chased the cursing trail-boss.
1977 Daily Mirror 15 Mar. 24/1 What was the name of the actor who played the trail boss in the TV Western series ‘Rawhide’?
Categories »
trail-bridge n. U.S. a ferry consisting of a boat controlled by a pulley running on a rope.
Categories »
trail-car n. U.S. = trailer n. 6a.
trail-cart n. dialect (see quots. 1803 –1896).
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > vehicles according to means of motion > vehicle moving on runners > [noun]
car1488
harrow15..
trail1570
sladea1585
slidec1692
carriole1761
carryall1797
trail-cart1803
jumper1823
toboggan1829
konaki1914
1803 J. Brown in A. Hunter et al. Georgical Ess. (new ed.) II. xvi. 370 To bruize out the grain by sledges or trail carts.
1861 S. Smiles Lives Engineers II. 109 Sledges or trail-carts were also used for the same purpose; but the most common instrument employed was the flail.
1896 S. R. Crockett Grey Man xii A trail-cart,..a box with shafts like a carriage, but without wheels, mounted on a great brush of branches and twigs, which..scored the ground with a thousand ruts and scratches.
trail-eye n. = trail-plate-eye n.
trail-fly n. Angling a fly at the end of a fly-cast.
ΚΠ
1847 T. T. Stoddart Angler's Compan. 84 I recommend the use of a whitling hook, as the trail-fly or stretcher.
trail-handspike n. = trail-bar n.
trail head n. North American the beginning of a trail for walkers (occasionally also for skiers); an organizational centre at such a place.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, path, or track > track, trail, or path > [noun] > for recreational walking > beginning of
trail head1971
1971 Islander (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 30 May 12/4 Another satisfactory water supply can be found at the southern end of the beach, just past the trail head.
1976 Stillwater (Montana) News 1 July 12/3 Backpackers, fishermen, day hikers, or anyone else using outdoor trails, should sign in on the log book at the trailhead where these are available.
1981 Nordic Skiing Jan. 48/2 The Warming Hut on Butternut Lake serves as the trail~head where a skier can..arrange for instruction, rentals, accessories, [etc.].
trail-hook n. Angling a hook at the end of a fly-cast.
ΚΠ
1847 T. T. Stoddart Angler's Compan. 100 In the formation of the fly-cast, always commence at the stretcher or trail-hook.
trail-hound n. (a) [hound n.1 4e] = trail-blazer n. at Compounds 1a above; (b) a small hound bred for the sport of hound trailing.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > aspects of travel > traveller > [noun] > explorer or discoverer
finder1405
explorer1577
Columbus1593
pioneera1817
explorator1836
pathfinder1840
path-cleaver1896
trail-blazer1908
trail-hound1931
the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Canidae > hound > [noun] > defined by characteristics or training
stop-hound1711
skirter1781
stop-dog1789
trail-hound1931
1931 Times Lit. Suppl. 29 Oct. 839/2 The writer is what in her mountaineering vernacular might be called ‘a trail hound’.
1972 Shooting Times & Country Mag. 27 May 27/1 From all this evolved the trail hound, a smaller, lighter type altogether than his near relative, the Fell foxhound.
1978 R. Hill Pinch of Snuff vii. 73 She [sc. a cat] was born on a Cumberland farm and reckons she's a trail-hound.
trail lever n. ‘a trailing lever hinged to the spindle-carriage of a spinning-mule’ ( Cent. Dict. Suppl.).
Π
1890 J. Nasmith Mod. Cotton Spinning Machinery xi. 206 The traverse of the locking lever prior to locking is gradually lessened as the trail lever slide L is lowered.
1892 J. Nasmith Students' Cotton Spinning viii. 270 The shoulder R is pulled over the bowl carried at the end of the lever L, called the ‘trail’ lever, which is hinged to the carriage.
trail-net n. a fishing-net that is trailed or drawn along, a dragnet.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > fishing-tackle > net > [noun] > drag-net
dray-netc1000
pullc1303
draw-net1386
dredge1471
drag1481
dragneta1542
train1576
tug-net1584
trainel1585
draught-net1630
trawl-net1697
trail1711
trawl1759
trail-net1820
pole trawl1836
train net1864
otter trawlc1870
turn-net1883
pair trawl1967
1820 Jodrell Trailnet, or Trawlnet.
1877 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Trail-net, a net drawn or trailed behind a boat; or by two persons on opposite banks in sweeping a stream.
Trail of Tears n. U.S. (see quot. 1930).
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > furnishing with inhabitants > migration > [noun] > specific forced migration
Trail of Tears1930
1930 E. Ferber Cimarron 40 Tears came to his own eyes when he spoke of that blot on southern civilization, the Trail of Tears, in which the Cherokees, a peaceful and home-loving Indian tribe, were torn [1838–9] from the land which a government had given them by sworn treaty, to be sent far away on a march which, from cold, hunger, exposure, and heartbreak, was marked by bleaching bones from Georgia to Oklahoma.
1978 Peace News 6 Oct. 7/2 It was named after the many Long Walks since the Andrew Jackson presidency, including walks like the Trail of Tears in which the Indian people were forced to trek vast distances overland as an expansionist government laid claim to their traditional homelands.
1984 Miami Herald 6 Apr. 6 a/2 Tribal leaders are calling the reunion the most important event for the Cherokee Nation since the Indians were driven from their southern lands in the 1838 ‘Trail of Tears’.
trail-plank n. a plank for supporting the trail of a gun-carriage.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > gun carriage > [noun] > planks to support gun or carriage
sleeper1688
ribband1832
skidding1859
trail-plank1859
1859 F. A. Griffiths Artillerist's Man. (1862) 115 One trail plank... This plank is placed on the ground, so that the trail of a siege carriage may rest on it.
trail-plate n. an iron plate attached to the trail of a gun-carriage.
Π
1828 [see trail-plate-eye n.].
trail-plate-eye n. an ‘eye’ or perforated piece fixed on the trail-plate, used in limbering up.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > gun carriage > [noun] > other parts of carriage
tail-pin1497
brack1622
head-plate1647
transom1688
prise-bolt1705
bracket1753
bracket-bolt1753
pintle1769
rider1779
trail-plate-eye1828
cleat1834
wheel-guard1860
spade1862
nave-hole1867
chassis1869
turntable1889
gun-crutch1898
trail-spade1904
1828 J. M. Spearman Brit. Gunner 17 Trail-plate Eyes.
trail-riding n. motor-cycling with a trail bike.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > transport > motorcycling > [noun]
motorcycling1902
motor-bicycling1912
motorbiking1913
trail-riding1931
1931 C. Aldin in Hunloke & Aldin Riding vi. 105 Trail riding..gives us a day's riding with a picnic, and teaches us where the side tracks and bypaths on a place like Exmoor lead to.
1979 Daily Tel. 13 Jan. 8 These tracks..provide great scope for that non-competitive and gentle form of motor-cycling known as trail-riding.
trail-rope n. a rope used for trailing or drawing something: (a) U.S. a long rope used for tethering animals loosely; (b) in a gun-carriage = prolonge n.; (c) a rope trailed on the ground to check the speed of a balloon.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > general equipment > [noun] > tether
tether1376
sealc1440
solec1440
picket line1768
head rope1810
leg rope1826
trail-rope1826
lariat1835
riata1846
mecate1849
hitching-weight1852
tie-strap1875
society > travel > air or space travel > a means of conveyance through the air > balloons and airships > [noun] > guide rope
trail-rope1826
guideline1836
guide-rope1838
1826 G. C. Sibley Diary 15 Mar. in A. B. Hulbert Southwest on Turquoise Trail (1933) 162 I have paid away the following sums, since I left Sta. Fee..14 trail ropes, 14·00.
1851 M. Reid Scalp Hunters I. xx. 255 Mules and mustangs, picketed on long trail-ropes.
1899 Westm. Gaz. 31 July 10/2 We opened the valve to hasten our descent before reaching it, and at 8.8 our trail-rope touched the ground.
trail-scent n. = sense 8b above (cf. train-scent n.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > equipment > [noun] > drag
train1558
train-scent1593
trail-scent1682
trail1763
drag1841
scent bag1889
1682 London Gaz. No. 1711/8 A Trail Scent for Hounds.
1781 P. Beckford Thoughts on Hunting vi. 80 You say, you should like to see your young hounds run a trail-scent.
trail-spade n. a projection at the lower end of the trail of a gun-carriage.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > gun carriage > [noun] > other parts of carriage
tail-pin1497
brack1622
head-plate1647
transom1688
prise-bolt1705
bracket1753
bracket-bolt1753
pintle1769
rider1779
trail-plate-eye1828
cleat1834
wheel-guard1860
spade1862
nave-hole1867
chassis1869
turntable1889
gun-crutch1898
trail-spade1904
1904 Sci. Amer. 21 May 402/2 The carriage..permits of checking the recoil without undue strain..through a trail-spade provided with an elastic joint.
trailway n. North American a route through rough country cleared and maintained for recreational walking.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, path, or track > track, trail, or path > [noun] > for recreational walking
tourist track1912
nature trail1926
trailway1939
heritage trail1976
1939 Appalachian Trailway News July 6/2 The matter of foremost importance was..to obtain the state recognition and interest in the Trailway project.
1940 Appalachian Trailway News Jan. 20/1 The Appalachian Trail or Trailway is entirely a voluntary amateur project.
1972 E. Wigginton Foxfire Bk. 276 We'd gone walkin' along th' trailway.
1978 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 15 Feb. 1/7 About one-third of the route is already owned by the province and the draft plan calls for the gradual acquisition of a 60-foot-wide ‘trailway’ from present landowners.
Draft additions 1993
In a vehicle, the distance by which the point of contact with the ground of a steered wheel lies behind the intersection with the ground of the steering axis.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > powered vehicle > [noun] > parts of > trail
trail1929
1929 Newton & Steeds Motor Vehicle xxvii. 315 The amount by which the point of contact of wheel and ground lies behind the intersection of the swivel pin axis with the ground is called the amount of ‘trail’.
1940 in Chambers's Techn. Dict.
1986 Road Racer Aug.–Sept. 22/1 Although a change of two inches in wheel diameter might appear small..both ride-height and trail are reduced.
Draft additions August 2001
trail mix n. originally and chiefly North American = gorp n.
ΚΠ
1977 Washington Post (Nexis) 1 Sept. g26 We tried several kinds, good and not so good, before locating what for us was the perfect Trail Mix.
1981 M. Cunningham & J. Laber Fannie Farmer Cookbk. (1988) 72 Created to provide energy for hikers, trail mix or ‘gorp’ has become an all-purpose snack.
1992 I. Pattison More Rab C. Nesbitt Scripts 10 No worries, my man. I know how yi feel. Get any more dehydrated and yi could use yir balls for trail mix.
2001 Palm Beach (Florida) Post (Electronic ed.) 1 Mar. A Tupperware bowl filled with cheese-flavored trail mix—with cooked mealworms added for flavor—also made the rounds.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1914; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
† trailn.2
Obsolete.
1. A latticed structure for training climbing plants upon; a trellis.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > gardening > equipment and buildings > [noun] > trellis or framework
trailc1460
trellis1513
palisado1604
counter-espalier1658
palisade1658
pole hedge1658
treillage1698
trellis-work1712
espalier1736
trellis-frame1766
trainer1836
balloon1881
trellising1913
palm-stand1926
wigwam1961
c1460 R. Roos tr. La Belle Dame sans Mercy 184 I me withdrew..And set me down aloon, behynd a trayle Ful of leves,..With grene withies y-bounden.
1565 T. Cooper Thesaurus at Brachium Brachiata vinea, a vine hauyng longe branches vpon trayles.
1693 J. Evelyn tr. J. de La Quintinie Compl. Gard'ner i. iii. vi. 132 Muscat-Grapes..ripen not so well when raised upon high Trails.
1727 R. Bradley Chomel's Dictionaire Oeconomique (Dublin ed.) at Gardener To cut the Trees and Pallisades when there is need of it, as well as the Treils and Arbours.
2. A lattice; a grating; a grill.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > fact or condition of being transverse > intersection > [noun] > grating or lattice
latticea1382
trellisa1400
grate1412
trail1485
tresance1510
cradle1561
craticle1657
grillade1727
grating1739
treillage1836
grid1839
gridiron1854
1485 W. Caxton tr. Paris & Vienne (1957) 54 Or they entred they opened a treylle whyche gaf lyght in to the pryson.
c1500 Melusine (1895) 328 He fonde a grete yron trayll, wherin were closed a hondred men..that the geaunt held for hys prysonners.
1552 T. Cooper Bibliotheca Eliotæ (rev. ed.) Clatro..to shutte a wyndowe, specially a lattise window: To close with lattise grates, or treyles.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1914; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
† trailn.3
Obsolete.
Entrails, intestines, collectively; esp. those of certain birds, as woodcock and snipe, and fishes, as red mullet, which are cooked and eaten with the rest of the flesh.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > animals for food > part or joint of animal > [noun] > pluck, offal, or tripe
tripea1300
numblesc1330
tripea1400
chitterling?c1400
giblet14..
hasletc1400
umbles14..
womb cloutc1400
garbage1422
offala1425
interlardc1440
hinge1469
draught?a1475
mugget1481
paunch1512
purtenance1530
pertinence1535
chawdron1578
menudes1585
humblesa1592
gut?1602
pluck1611
sheep's-pluck1611
fifth quarter1679
trail1764
fry1847
chitling1869
small goods1874
black tripe1937
variety meat1942
1764 T. Smollett Trav. (1766) I. xviii. 291 The thrush is presented with the trail, because the bird feeds on olives. They may as well eat the trail of a sheep, because it feeds on the aromatic herbs of the mountain.
1772 J. Wesley Wks. (1872) X. 387 Those that are fond of his bowels may put them in again, and swallow them as they would the trail of a wood~cock.
1804 J. Farley London Art Cookery (ed. 10) 40 Baste them with a little butter, and let the trail drop on the toast.
1826 in W. Hone Every-day Bk. (1827) II. 94 Larks in France..are always dressed with the trail, like snipes.
1846 A. Soyer Gastron. Regenerator 227 Take the flesh and trails of the woodcocks from the bones.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1914; most recently modified version published online March 2021).
trailv.1
/treɪl/, U.S. /treɪl/ I. Primary senses. Transitive.
1.
a. To draw behind one; to drag along upon the ground or other surface (esp. something hanging loosely, as a long garment); also, to drag (a person) roughly, to hale; to haul.
ΘΠ
the world > movement > impelling or driving > pushing and pulling > push and pull [verb (transitive)] > pull > along a surface or behind
drawOE
harry1340
traila1380
traina1500
lag1530
strakec1530
entrain1568
drail1598
lurry1664
toboggan1886
schlep1911
a1380 Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS. liii. 356 Þei trompe bifore þis traiturs, and traylen hem on tres Þorow-out þe Cite.
c1480 (a1400) St. Nicholas 690 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 501 He hynt þe prioure be þe hare,..& traylyt hyme ful angrely our al þe floure here & þare.
1490 W. Caxton tr. Foure Sonnes of Aymon (1885) xx. 449 Ye shall see many knyghtes to traylle theyr bowelles thorughe the feeldes.
c1515 Ld. Berners tr. Bk. Duke Huon of Burdeux (1882–7) cxxx. 475 Horses rynnynge abrode traylynge theyr brydels after them.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 760/2 He was trayled upon a hardell thorowe al the towne, il fust trayné sur vne herce par toute la ville.
1623 in W. Foster Eng. Factories India 1622–3 (1908) 231 A band of souldiers befor, marching with ther coulers trayled after.
1671 J. Milton Samson Agonistes 1402 They shall not trail me through thir streets Like a wild Beast. View more context for this quotation
1714 A. Pope Rape of Lock (new ed.) iii. 23 What boots..That long behind he trails his pompous Robe?
1842 Ld. Tennyson Lady of Shalott (rev. ed.) i, in Poems (new ed.) I. 78 Slide the heavy barges trail'd By slow horses.
1864 C. Dickens Our Mutual Friend (1865) I. i. x. 93 The gentleman has trailed his stick after him.
b. To carry or convey by drawing or dragging, as in a vehicle or ship; sometimes said of something cumbrous figured as if dragged along, = ‘drag’ used dyslogistically. Also dialect to carry (dirt) on the feet into a house.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > transport > transport or conveyance by drawing along > draw along or haul [verb (transitive)]
drawOE
traila1500
tract1523
tow1933
a1500 (?a1400) Sir Torrent of Portyngale (1887) l. 1314 They Reysed a gale with a sayll, The Geaunt to lond for to trayll.
1748 H. Walpole Let. 7 June in Lett. to H. Mann (1833) II. 252 The yatch is not big enough to convey all the tables and chairs and conveniences that he trails along with him.
a1763 W. Shenstone Ballad vi A coach with a coronet trail'd her to Tweed.
1863 Mrs. Toogood Specim. Yorks. Dial. (MS.) The childer trail a lot o' moock in t' house.
1887 C. Bowen tr. Virgil Æneid iii, in tr. Virgil in Eng. Verse 164 I, when our homes lay blazing, was trailed o'er sea.
c. To draw (the body or limbs) along wearily or with difficulty in walking, etc., esp. from disablement or exhaustion. So reflexive to move along slowly and painfully, drag oneself along, crawl.
ΘΠ
the world > movement > rate of motion > slowness > make (its way) slowly [verb (transitive)] > move (the body or limbs) along slowly or wearily
trail1562
drag1583
1562 in F. J. Furnivall Child-marriages, Divorces, & Ratifications Diocese Chester (1897) 138 He..demaundid a tieth goose..and she wold have gevin him none but one that haltid, and tralid the winge.
1566 T. Blundeville Order curing Horses Dis. cix. f. 80, in Fower Offices Horsemanshippe The horse wil not lift that legge, but traile it nighe the grounde.
1740 W. Somervile Hobbinol ii. 404 Her wounded Parts Grov'ling she [a snake] trails along.
1863 W. C. Baldwin Afr. Hunting ix. 413 I have no appetite, and trail my limbs after me as if they did not belong to me.
1908 H. Maxwell Guide Holyrood 108 He trailed himself, a broken-hearted man, to Falkland Palace.
d. to trail one's coat, to seek to pick a quarrel; to be provocative in one's conduct. Cf. to drag his coat-tails, so that some one may tread on them at coat-tail n.
ΘΠ
society > society and the community > dissent > quarrel or quarrelling > quarrel [verb (intransitive)] > find occasion for quarrelling > give provocation
to trail one's coat1877
to look for (or seek) trouble1901
1864 Realm 13 Apr. 2 Some trailer of coat-tails, looking out for a head to break.]
1877 C. M. Yonge Womankind (ed. 2) xxv. 216 Party spirit is equally ready to give offence and to watch for it. It will trail its coat like the Irishman in the fair.
1923 Daily Mail 7 Feb. 6 This risk [of war] is greatly increased by the presence of British troops at Constantinople and Chanak. Why should we thus be ‘trailing our coats’ before the Turks?
1950 ‘D. Divine’ King of Fassarai xxxii. 291 I wouldn't put it in a report!.. I don't trail my coat.
1974 Times 4 Nov. 15/1 Nobody trails his coat for another election... There is to be no Commons division on the crisis in agriculture.
1980 J. Ditton Copley's Hunch i. ii. 35 I was trailing my coat... Trying to get the Luftwaffe to come up and fight.
2. † b. Hence allusively to trail a pen, to write, to follow the occupation of a writer. Obsolete.Apparently an isolated use.
a. Military. Originally: to carry (a pike or similar weapon) in the right hand in an oblique position with the head forward and the butt nearly touching the ground. Later spec.: to carry (a lance or rifle) in a horizontal position in the right hand with the arm fully extended downward (as in the British army), or in an oblique position, grasping it just above the balance with the arm extended downward and slightly bent (as in the U.S. army). (Also, formerly, to carry (a pike) reversed, with the pointed head dragging along the ground, as at military funerals: see quot. 1688.) to trail a pike, to serve as a soldier (archaic).
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military service > serve as a soldier [verb (intransitive)]
to bear armsc1325
to take armsa1425
serve1430
war1535
to trail a pikec1550
sold1564
to follow the drum1575
to see and serve1590
soldierize1593
militate1625
soldier1647
be in buff1701
to go (a-)soldiering1756
society > armed hostility > drill or training > drill [verb (transitive)] > position weapons
charge1509
trailc1550
present1579
recover1594
return1598
handle1621
rest1622
port1625
slope1625
reverse1630
to order arms1678
carry1779
the world > life > death > obsequies > formal or ceremonial mourning > exhibit mourning for [verb (transitive)] > trail weapons
trail1688
c1550 Complaynt Scotl. (1979) vii. 55 The eldest of them vas in harnes, traland ane halbert, behynd hym.
1575 T. Churchyard 1st Pt. Chippes f. 58 v And still I hoept, the warres wold me aduaunce So trayld the piek, and world began a nue.
1600 W. Shakespeare Henry V iv. i. 41 Trailes thou the puissant pike?
a1640 J. Fletcher & P. Massinger Spanish Curat i. i, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Ev/1 How proud..should I be, To traile a pike under your brave command.
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory (1905) iii. xix. 147/2 Trayle your pike, is to take it in the right hand vnder the head and hold it close to your side. In this posture they march. There is an other way of traileing the pike, which is by takeing the but end in the right hand holding it to the side, traileing or drawing the head after vpon the ground. In this posture they march at the funerall of a souldier.
1803 Regulations for Exercise of Riflemen 4 Trail Arms. The left hand seizes the rifle at the second pipe, the right close over the sight, and trails it on the right side at arm's length.
1825 W. Scott Talisman x, in Tales Crusaders III. 234 The soldiers wore the downcast..looks, with which they trail their arms at a funeral.
1833 Regulations Instr. Cavalry i. v. 161 The lance is ‘trailed’ by being carried in the right hand at the balance.
1870 J. R. Lowell My Study Windows 92 Ben Jonson..trailed a pike in the Low Countries.
1877 Manual Field Artillery Exercises 62 Trail Arms. The Trail. Give the carbine a cant upwards with the right hand, seizing it close behind the back-sight, and bring it to a horizontal position at the full extent of the arm, fingers and thumb round the carbine.
1879 Martini-Henry Rifle Exerc. 13 Arms must never be trailed with fixed bayonets.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > art or occupation of writer or author > follow occupation of writer [verb (intransitive)]
writec1275
to trail a pen1680
to sling ink1870
1680 J. Dryden in N. Lee Cæsar Borgia Prol. sig. A4 The unhappy man, who once has trail'd a Pen, Lives not to please himself but other men.
3.
a. figurative or in figurative context, with various implications: e.g. to drag forcibly to some course of action; to draw out, lengthen out in time, protract; to utter slowly, drawl; to ‘drag in’ irrelevantly; to subject to dishonour, ‘drag in the dust’; to cause (a person) to accompany or follow one, esp. reluctantly; etc.
ΘΠ
the world > time > duration > have duration [verb (transitive)] > cause to endure, sustain, or prolong
lengOE
drawOE
teec1200
forlengtha1300
lengtha1300
drivec1300
tarryc1320
proloynec1350
continuec1380
to draw alonga1382
longa1382
dretch1393
conservea1398
to draw (out) in, into, at, or on lengtha1400
prorogue1419
prolongc1425
aroomc1440
prorogate?a1475
protend?a1475
dilate1489
forlong1496
relong1523
to draw out1542
sustentate1542
linger1543
defer1546
pertract1548
propagate1548
protract1548
linger1550
lengthen1555
train1556
detract?a1562
to make forth (long, longer)1565
stretch1568
extend1574
extenuate1583
dree1584
wire-draw1598
to spin out1603
trail1604
disabridge1605
produce1605
continuate1611
out-length1617
spin1629
to eke out1641
producta1670
prolongate1671
drawl1694
drag1697
perennate1698
string1867
perennialize1898
the world > relative properties > relationship > relevance or pertinence > [verb (transitive)] > bring in irrelevantly
trail1604
the mind > language > linguistics > study of speech sound > speech sound > [verb (transitive)] > lengthen or shorten
prolongc1560
shorten1589
trail1604
lengthen1667
abbreviate1668
the mind > language > speech > manner of speaking > say in a particular manner [verb (transitive)] > drawl
to draw outc1540
drawl1643
train1647
trail1891
the world > movement > progressive motion > order of movement > following behind > follow [verb (transitive)] > cause (one) to follow
trail1914
1604 T. Wright Passions of Minde (new ed.) i. viii. 31 The sensitive appetite often..traleth and haleth the will to..follow her pleasures.
1646 R. Crashaw Musicks Duell in Steps to Temple 104 [She] Trayles her playne Ditty in one long-spun note.
1650 Bp. J. Hall Resol. & Decisions (ed. 2) Addit. i. 396 As for Lyra, who is trayled in here, and cited.
1806 G. Austin Chironomia i. 38 The words..should not be trailed nor drawled, nor let to slip out carelessly.
1807 W. Wordsworth Ode in Poems II. 151 Not in utter nakedness, But trailing clouds of glory do we come From God. View more context for this quotation
1874 J. R. Green Short Hist. Eng. People viii. §3. 479 The policy which had so long trailed English honour at the chariot-wheels of Spain.
1891 E. Gerard & D. Gerard Sensitive Plant III. iii. xii. 81 There really is no reason for trailing out the matter longer.
1914 W. Owen Let. 24 May (1967) 253 Tofield..is married, and trails a French wife about with him, from Berlitz School to Berlitz School.
1977 ‘D. Rutherford’ Return Load i. 21 Sally..trailing a reluctant Josie, was heading for the exit.
b. To draw as by persuasion or art; to draw on; hence colloquial ‘to quiz, befool’ (Farmer Slang).
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > forward movement > move or cause to move forward or advance [verb (transitive)] > move (a thing) forward
to bring onc1230
vaunce1303
advancea1393
to set forward(s)c1430
perduce1563
traila1717
progress1780
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > derision, ridicule, or mockery > banter or good-humoured ridicule > banter [verb (transitive)]
tauntc1530
railly1668
rally1672
banter1677
smoke1699
to get, take, or have a rise out of1703
joke1748
to run a rig1764
badinage1778
queer1778
quiz1787
to poke (one's) fun (at)1795
gammon1801
chaff1826
to run on ——1830
rig1841
trail1847
josh1852
jolly1874
chip1898
barrack1901
horse1901
jazz1927
to take the mike out ofa1935
to take the piss (out of)1945
to take the mickey (out of)1948
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > cheating, fraud > duping, making a fool of > befool, cheat, dupe [verb (transitive)]
belirtOE
bitruflea1250
begab1297
bobc1320
bedaffc1386
befool1393
mock1440
triflea1450
glaik?a1513
bedawa1529
fond?1529
allude1535
gulla1550
dolt1553
dor1570
poop1575
colt1579
foolify1581
assot1583
noddify1583
begecka1586
elude1594
wigeona1595
fool1598
noddy1600
fop1602
begull1605
waddle1606
woodcockize1611
bemocka1616
greasea1625
noddypoop1640
truff1657
bubble1668
cully1676
coaxc1679
dupe1704
to play off1712
noodle1769
idiotize1775
oxify1804
tomfool1835
sammyfoozle1837
trail1847
pipe lay1848
pigwidgeon1852
green1853
con1896
rib1912
shuck1959
a1717 T. Parnell Fairy Tale 158 Then Will, who bears the wispy fire, To trail the swains among the mire.
1748 S. Richardson Clarissa VII. x. 48 I sometimes was..so long trailed on between hope and doubt.
1847 C. Brontë Jane Eyre II. ii. 42 I..perceived she was (what is vernacularly termed) trailing Mrs. Dent; that is, playing on her ignorance: her trail might be clever, but it was decidedly not good-natured.
1900 C. Kernahan Scoundrels & Co. xxi To see the Ishmaelites ‘trail’ a sufferer from ‘swelled head’ is to undergo inoculation against that fell malady.
4. To give advance notice of (a radio or television programme). Also transferred. Cf. trail n.1 11, trailer n. 4b.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > broadcasting > [verb (transitive)] > give advance notice of programme
trail1941
trailer1965
1941 B.B.C. Gloss. Broadcasting Terms 33 Trail (v. trans.), to draw the attention of listeners to a forthcoming programme or other event of broadcasting importance by means of announcements, recorded excerpts, or other methods calculated to make it widely known.
1942 ‘G. Orwell’ Diary 14 Aug. in Coll. Ess. (1968) II. 443 Horrabin was broadcasting today... This had been extensively trailed and advertised beforehand.
1960 Guardian 8 Nov. 7/2 It remains to me an object of mystery..why the BBC trailed this programme..as unsuitable for young people.
1976 Daily Tel. 20 Dec. 8 Powell blamed newspapers for having ignored his embargo—journalists usually receive copies of his speeches a day or two beforehand—but for years his speeches have been ‘trailed’ without complaint.
1978 Times 7 Aug. 12/5 At least by trailing their message on the envelope the senders have..reduced wear on my paper knife.
1980 Musicians Only 26 Apr. 11/5 Released to trail a three album blockbuster.
II. Intransitive senses.But for the doubtful Old English træglian, these form the earliest group in English and perhaps ought to be branch I.
5.
a. (intransitive for passive of 1.) To hang down so as to drag along the ground or other surface; to be drawn loosely behind (by a person, animal, or thing in motion).
ΘΠ
the world > movement > progressive motion > order of movement > following behind > follow behind [verb (intransitive)] > moving along a surface
trail1303
sweep1642
drag1666
1303 R. Mannyng Handlyng Synne 3444 What sey ȝe men of ladyys pryde Þat gone traylyng ouer syde:..To soule helpe hyt myȝt do bote, Þat trayleþ lowe vndyr þe fote.
a1500 (?c1450) Merlin xiv. 211 Ther sholde ye se stedes and horse renne maisterles, their reynes trailynge vndir fote.
?1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry f. xlvii That it [sc. a gate] do nat trele nor the wynde blowe it nat opyn.
c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 10358 Þat so worshipfull a wegh, as þe wight Troilus..Shuld traile as a traytor by the taile of his horse.
1633 P. Fletcher Purple Island xii. xvi. 162 His hanging dewlap trail'd along the golden sand.
1823 Local Act 4 Geo. IV c. ii. §98 If any Person..suffer any Timber..carried..upon wheel Carriages, to drag or trail upon the said Bridge or Roads.
1868 W. Morris Earthly Paradise ii. 620 The sound Of silken dresses trailing o'er the ground.
b. Military (intransitive for passive of 2).
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > death > obsequies > formal or ceremonial mourning > exhibit formal or ceremonial mourning [verb (intransitive)] > trail (of weapons)
trail1677
1677 London Gaz. No. 1181/2 Amsterdam, March 19. Yesterday was performed the Funerals of the late Lieutenant Admiral de Ruyter, the proceeding was thus: 1. Marched two Companies of Soldiers, their Pikes trailing.
6. To hang down or float loosely from its attachment, as dress, hair, etc.; of a plant: to grow decumbently and stragglingly to a considerable length, so as to rest upon the ground or other support, as a stem or branch of a plant; to ‘creep’.
ΘΠ
the world > space > relative position > support > hanging or suspension > hang or be suspended [verb (intransitive)] > hang down > trailingly
trikea1350
trilla1400
trailc1412
train1584
dragglec1594
tag1617
traipsea1777
streel1847
trape1875
c1412 T. Hoccleve De Regimine Principum 466 What help schal he, Wos sleeues encombrous so syde traille, Do to his lord?
1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball i. vii. 13 It hath..small braunches..creping or trayling alongst the ground.
1591 E. Spenser Ruines of Time in Complaints ii Her yeolow locks,..About her shoulders careleslie downe trailing.
1687 A. Lovell tr. J. de Thévenot Trav. into Levant ii. 94 They cover this Table with a large pinked Carpet, which on all sides trails on the ground.
1776 W. Withering Brit. Plants (1796) III. 541 In open sunny situations it [Prunella] grows trailing,..but in woods it is upright.
1845 R. Ford Hand-bk. Travellers in Spain I. i. 52 The Spanish horse's tail often trails to the very ground.
7.
a. †To walk with long trailing garments (obsolete); to drag one's limbs, walk slowly or wearily as if dragged along (often, following some person or thing: cf. 5); to move or go in extended order; to creep, crawl, as a serpent or other reptile.
ΘΠ
the world > movement > progressive motion > walking > walk, tread, or step [verb (intransitive)] > with trailing garments
trail1303
the mind > emotion > pride > ostentation > make ostentatious display or show off [verb (intransitive)] > move or walk ostentatiously
trail1303
jeta1400
prancec1422
prankc1450
brank1568
promenade1699
parade1748
sashay1968
society > travel > [verb (intransitive)] > move in a line
stringa1824
tail1859
trail1863
queue1893
the world > movement > rate of motion > slowness > move or go slowly [verb (intransitive)] > slowly or wearily
sag1573
trail1864
1303 [see sense 5a].
a1400 Metr. Hom. (Vernon MS.) in Herrig Archiv LVII. 303 Ich [the devil] haue longe i-ben Þi lord and mad þe traile and [? in] gren In siclatoun and in scarlet.
a1400 Sir Penny 29 in Map's Poems (Camden) 360 He may ger tham trayl syde In gude skarlet and grene.
1513 G. Douglas in tr. Virgil Æneid v. Prol. 11 Wantoun gallandis to traill in sumptuus wedis.
1608 E. Topsell Hist. Serpents 193 Like the Horned-serpent, so trayles this elfe on land.
1768 O. Goldsmith Good Natur'd Man i. 11 Nothing diverts me more than one of those fine old dressy things..trailing thro' a minuet at Almack's.
1863 A. W. Kinglake Invasion of Crimea II. xvi. 296 The cavalcade which had trailed in his wake.
1864 J. R. Lowell Fireside Trav. 106 We trailed along, at the rate of four miles an hour.
1905 F. Treves Other Side of Lantern (1906) ii. vii. 73 The camels that trailed away from the city.
b. Of inanimate things: To move along slowly; to drift, glide, or flow slowly (obsolete); sometimes, to move in the wake of something as if drawn along by it; to form a trail.
ΘΠ
the world > matter > liquid > liquid flow > action or process of flowing > flow [verb (intransitive)] > in small quantity
sickerc897
stilla1300
bleedc1305
distilc1400
trail1470
trinkle1513
trickle1526
gozle1650
run1786
the world > movement > rate of motion > slowness > move or go slowly [verb (intransitive)]
creepc1175
lugc1400
to hold (also keep) foot withc1438
crawlc1460
lounge?a1513
slug1565
drawl1566
draggle1577
fodge1581
snail1582
laggerc1620
slagger1622
snail1628
flod1674
delay1690
to drag one’s slow length along1711
soss1711
loiter1728
trail1744
sidle1781
soodle1821
linger1826
ooze1847
slope1851
laggard1864
dawdle1872
tiddle1882
oozle1958
pootle1973
1470–85 T. Malory Morte d'Arthur vii. xxxiv. 267 They..drewe their swerdes, and gafe grete strokes that the blood trayled to the ground.
1650 T. Fuller Pisgah-sight of Palestine iv. iii. 48 The water issuing thence trailed after them, in all their removealls.
1744 ‘J. Love’ Cricket i. 4 The dull Ball trails before the feeble Mace.
1822 J. M. Good Study Med. II. 309 Vesicular Erythema..surface..covered with..minute vesicles..progressively trailing into the neighbouring sound parts.
1851 H. W. Longfellow Golden Legend iv. 211 Through the momentary gloom Of shadows o'er the landscape trailing.
c. Also with in. U.S.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > going or coming in > go or come in [verb (intransitive)] > slowly
trail1875
1875 Fur, Fin & Feather (ed. 3) 112 Light and drink; drop off and trail in.
1907 S. E. White Arizona Nights (U.K. ed.) xvi. 234 With exultant cackles of joy they'd trail in, reachin' out like quarter-horses.
8.
a. To extend in a straggling line, to straggle.
ΘΠ
the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > longitudinal extent > extend longitudinally [verb (intransitive)] > be long and trailing
trail1600
streel1847
1600 R. Hakluyt tr. in Princ. Navigations (new ed.) III. 615 Cape Roxo is a low Cape and trayling to the sea-ward.
1905 J. B. Firth Highways & Byways in Derbyshire vii. 98 The path..sometimes trails across the meadows.
b. to trail off (fig.): to ‘go off’ in a careless, casual, or indefinite way into something; to tail off.
ΘΠ
the mind > language > speech > speak [verb (intransitive)] > finish speaking
to shut up1626
to trail off1845
the world > relative properties > quantity > decrease or reduction in quantity, amount, or degree > decrease in quantity, amount, or degree [verb (intransitive)] > gradually
meltc1225
dwindle1598
to die down1836
to trail off1845
to taper off (away, down)1848
to tail off (out)1854
to tail away1860
fritter1874
1845 C. Dickens Cricket on Hearth iii. 142 The soft-hearted Slowboy trailed off at this juncture, into such a deplorable howl..that [etc.].
1865 C. Dickens Our Mutual Friend I. ii. xvi. 319 Twemlow..trails off into ‘—actly so’.
1967 W. Styron Confessions Nat Turner i. 32 I heard Hark's voice trail off in something like a stifled laugh, a gurgle of satisfaction.
1982 Times 16 June 17/1 The export expansion should trail off substantially this year.
III. Secondary senses, apparently from trail n.1 2, 8, 9.
9. transitive. To decorate or cover with a trailing pattern or ornament; to adorn in the style of tracery. Const. with.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > ornamental art and craft > pattern or design > pattern [verb (transitive)] > types of pattern or design generally
stain1390
trail1399
arabesque1849
1399 W. Langland Richard Redeles i. 47 Ypoudride wyth pete þer it be ouȝte, And traylid with trouþe, and treste al aboute.
c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness l. 1473 Penitotes, & pynkardines, ay perles bitwene, So trayled & tryfled a traverce wer alle.
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 499/1 Traylyn, a(s) cloþys, segmento,..sirino [? sirmo].
?a1527 in Regulations & Establishm. Househ. Earl of Northumberland (1905) 424 iiij Copes blew Sylk with red Orferes trayled with whitt Braunchis and Flowres.
1596 E. Spenser Second Pt. Faerie Queene v. v. sig. P8 A Camis light of purple silke..Trayled with ribbands. View more context for this quotation
1870 D. Rock Textile Fabrics (S. Kensington Mus.) Introd. p. lxxvi The golden ground is trailed all over with leaf-bearing boughs.
10.
a. To follow the trail or track of, to track. Also in gen. use, to follow.
ΘΠ
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
the world > movement > progressive motion > order of movement > following behind > follow [verb (transitive)]
followeOE
asuec1300
suec1300
underfollow1382
succeedc1485
ensue?a1500
suit1582
to traik after1818
trail1915
1590 T. Cokayne Treat. Hunting D ij b An otter sometimes wilbe trayled a mile or two before he come to the holt where he lyeth.
1781 P. Beckford Thoughts on Hunting x. 140 Seeing the hare trailed to her form.
1788 Gentleman's Mag. 58 i. 74/2 General Clarke..after trailing them upon several tracks, at last came up with them.
1880 J. E. Harting Brit. Animals Extinct i. 18 In later times the Bear was trailed with boar-hounds.
1910 Contemp. Rev. July 33 The ranch~man is away..trailing horse thieves.
1915 H. L. Wilson Ruggles of Red Gap (1917) iv. 79 Think of those two poor fellows trailing you over Paris yesterday trying to save you from yourself.
1925 H. L. Foster Trop. Tramp with Tourists 70 We trailed the other steamer. We trailed her through the Boca Chica... We trailed her past the little forts.
1945 B. Macdonald Egg & I (1946) xxiii. 228 Sport and the puppy trailed me everywhere, whining and begging me to explain the smoke and excitement.
1957 ‘R. Farre’ Seal Morning ii. 16 No sooner was she past infancy than Lora [sc. a seal] started to waddle after me round the croft and trail me over to the byre.
b. To lag behind (someone or something), in a contest, comparison, etc. Also intransitive.
ΘΠ
the world > action or operation > failure or lack of success > fail or be unsuccessful [verb (intransitive)] > fail to reach goal or objective
to miss of the markc1400
to miss one's (also the) mark (also aim, etc.)1604
to come short home1720
to miss one's tip1847
to tear it1909
trail1957
the world > action or operation > failure or lack of success > fail in [verb (transitive)] > fail to reach or attain
to fail of?c1225
to fall short of1590
to fly short of1646
trail1957
1957 Times 6 Sept. 13/2 Hansen's best work came after he had trailed for the first four rounds.
1961 Wall St. Jrnl. 24 Mar. 1/1 The value of contracts for residential building awarded last month trailed February, 1960, by 12%.
1972 Guardian 10 Aug. 2/3 The Harris Poll today shows that Senator McGovern now trails President Nixon by 23 points.
1979 Sci. Amer. Nov. 56/1 Diabetes mellitus and its complications are now thought to be the third leading cause of death in the U.S., trailing only cardiovascular disease and cancer.
1980 Times 3 Nov. 2/1 Most MPs seem to expect Mr Silkin to come third with between 30 to 40 votes and Mr Shore to trail with between 20 and 30.
1983 Times 19 Feb. 8/4 A few months ago..she was trailing Mr Daley.
11.
a. To mark out (a trail or track); to trace out.
ΘΠ
society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, path, or track > track, trail, or path > [verb (transitive)] > mark out (a trail or path)
trail1589
1589 J. Chilton in R. Hakluyt Princ. Navigations iii. 592 By reason there met many wayes, traled by the wild beastes, I lost my way.
c1595 Countess of Pembroke Psalme lix. 75 in Coll. Wks. (1998) II. 65 Abroad they range and hunt apace Now that now this, As famine trailes a hungry trace.
1891 tr. H. Didon Jesus Christ I. 410 The way of the Kingdom..is a way trailed with blood.
b. To make trails or tracks in; to make one's way through; see also quot. 1828 (U.S.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > by locomotion > locomotion of animals > [verb (transitive)] > traverse
trail1652
1652 E. Benlowes Theophila xiii. xxvii. 239 The Larks, wing'd Travellers, that trail the Skie.
1828 N. Webster Amer. Dict. Eng. Lang. Trail... In America, to tread down grass by walking through; to lay flat; as, to trail grass.
12. intransitive. To follow the trail or track of the game.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > hunting with hounds > work done by hounds > action of hounds [verb (intransitive)] > follow scent or trail
draw1567
to draw or hunt dry-foota1616
trail1736
1736 Compl. Family-piece ii. i. 227 They will come Trailing along by the River Side.
1810 Sporting Mag. 35 194 Mr. Yeatman's hare beagles trailed up to a hare in Pulham Furze.
1880 J. H. Shorthouse John Inglesant ii. 41 The hounds came trailing and chanting along by the river side.
IV. In various sporting and leisure activities.
13. intransitive. To fish by trailing a bait from a moving boat; spec. to fish from a trailer (see trailer n. 8).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > type or method of fishing > [verb (intransitive)] > fish using bait
rove1661
ledger1688
trail1857
squida1859
spin1863
chum1882
mooch1947
nymph1982
1857 R. Tomes Americans in Japan xiii. 308 Another cluster of fishing-boats..apparently trailing for fish.
a1862 H. D. Thoreau Maine Woods (1864) iii. 176 My companion trailed for trout as we paddled along.
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14. Billiards. (See trailing n. 1c.)
15. Cards. At casino: to play a card that is useless for gaining a point. (Perhaps figurative from 7.)
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1909 in Cent. Dict. Suppl.
16. (See quot. 1907.)
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1907 Strand Mag. Feb. 147/1 As soon as the end of the rope [that hangs from the balloon] touches the ground you are ‘trailing’.
17. transitive. Bowls. To force (the jack) further up the green with one's bowl.
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > bowls or bowling > play bowls [verb (transitive)] > types of play
bias1641
draw1868
trail1908
1908 J. M. Pretsell Game of Bowls xi. 194 If a bowl trail the jack through between, and past the line square to the back of, the stationary bowls, it shall score 3.
1923 J. A. Manson Bowling 84 The Bowler is required to trail the jack, his own bowl accompanying or ‘hugging’ it, between the stationary bowls over both of the horizontal lines.
1975 Oxf. Compan. Sports & Games 97/2 Occasionally a bowler delivers a bowl which runs on to the jack and stays with it while pushing it a foot or so farther up the green. Basically this is a draw shot delivered with a marginal increase of strength with the object of trailing the jack to a more advantageous position.
Draft additions 1993
To transport (a boat, etc.) on a trailer; = trailer v. 1b.
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society > travel > transport > transport or conveyance in a vehicle > transport of goods in a vehicle > transport goods in vehicle [verb (transitive)] > on a trailer
trailer1971
trail1977
1977 Mod. Boating (Austral.) Jan. 21/2 Such small craft will need to be trailed rather than sailed to regatta venues.
1988 Motorboats Monthly Oct. 32/3 Damage to the boat is covered while it is being trailed, but you should still advise your car insurer that you occasionally tow boats.
Draft additions 1993
U.S. To drive or herd (livestock) along a trail. Also absol.
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the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > animal keeping practices general > herding, pasturing, or confining > [verb (intransitive)] > herd
herd1768
drove1805
looker1887
trail1906
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > animal keeping practices general > herding, pasturing, or confining > [verb (transitive)] > herd
herdc1475
travel1576
pastor1587
drove1776
flog1793
tail1844
work1878
work1879
trail1906
1906 N.Y. Evening Post 27 Oct. (Saturday Suppl.) 1/6 I determined to have the sheep ‘trailed through’ to Nebraska, which, in Western parlance, means driving them overland.
1910 Pacific Monthly Feb. 143/1 Legally the sheepman can trail where it pleases him.
1948 Sierra Club Bull. (San Francisco) Feb. 14/2 The privilege of trailing cattle across the monument still exists as always.
1974 New Yorker 29 Apr. 83/2 In the nineteen-twenties..Bill's father and other traders would make up a great herd of animals and drive them—‘trail them’ for six months..: ‘trail down plumb through the southern part of Arkansas [etc.]’.
1986 T. McGuane To skin Cat 156 There was one little band of cattle trailed by a cowboy.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1914; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
† trailv.2
Obsolete.
transitive. To provide with or train upon a trellis.
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the world > food and drink > farming > gardening > management of plants > [verb (transitive)] > train
rail?1387
trail1398
train?1440
conduct1477
to lay in1802
espalier1810
trellis1818
set1845
1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomew de Glanville De Proprietatibus Rerum (Bodl.) xvii. clxxviii Vines nedeþ to be trailed to be þe better susteyned.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1914; most recently modified version published online March 2021).
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