FluentPlex

trail

/tɹeɪl/ verb B2
  1. To follow behind (someone or something); to tail (someone or something). (transitive) · The hunters trailed their prey deep into the woods.
  2. To drag (something) behind on the ground. (transitive) · You'll get your coat all muddy if you trail it around like that.
  3. To leave (a trail of). (transitive) · He walked into the house, soaking wet, and trailed water all over the place.
  4. To 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. (transitive) · His new film was trailed on TV last night.· There were no surprises in this morning's much-trailed budget statement.
  5. To hang or drag loosely behind; to move with a slow sweeping motion. (intransitive) · The bride's long dress trailed behind her as she walked down the aisle.· Her curly hair trailed along her shoulders and down her back.
  6. To run or climb like certain plants. (intransitive)
  7. To drag oneself lazily or reluctantly along. (intransitive)
  8. To be losing, to be behind in a competition.

He/she/it trails · Past trailed · Past participle trailed · -ing form trailing

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Verb forms

Base form
trail
He/she/it
trails
Past
trailed
Past participle
trailed
-ing form
trailing

From the library

I knew that it was the mark made by Brunton in his measurements, and that I was still upon his trail.
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, p. 19 · B2
“Beyond doubt then it is no small thing that takes two such hunters--leaders in their own jungle I am certain--on the trail of the Bandar-log,” Kaa replied courteously, as he swelled with curiosity.
The Jungle Book, p. 44 · B2
I’m hoping we will get our work done before they get poking their noses into it and messing up all the trails.
The Valley of Fear, p. 33 · C1
The lake there is eight feet deep, and you can imagine our feelings when we saw that the trail of the poor demented girl came to an end at the edge of it.
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, p. 13 · B2

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Words, meanings, pronunciations and translations from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); how common each word is from wordfreq. Made into this dictionary by FluentPlex.