trail

American  

[treyl] / treɪl /

verb (used with object)

• trails,
  present (3rd person singular)
• trailed,
  past participle,  past
• trailing
  present participle

1. to drag or let drag along the ground or other surface; draw or drag along behind.

2. to bring or have floating after itself or oneself.

   a racing car trailing clouds of dust.

3. to follow the track, trail, or scent of; track.

   Synonyms:

   hunt, trace

4. to follow along behind (another), as in a race.

5. to mark out, as a track.

6. to tread down or make a path through (grass or the like).

7. to draw out, as speech; protract.

8. Ceramics. to pour (slip) on a biscuit so as to produce a pattern.

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verb (used without object)

• trails,
  present (3rd person singular)
• trailed,
  past participle,  past
• trailing
  present participle

1. to be drawn or dragged along the ground or some other surface, as when hanging from something moving.

   Her long bridal gown trailed across the floor.

2. to hang down loosely from something.

3. to stream from or float after something moving, as dust, smoke, and sparks do.

4. to follow as if drawn along.

5. to fish by trailing a line from a moving boat; troll.

6. to go slowly, lazily, or wearily along.

7. to pass or extend in a straggling line.

8. to change gradually or wander from a course, so as to become weak, ineffectual, etc. (usually followed by off oraway ).

   Her voice trailed off into silence.

   Synonyms:

   dwindle, shrink, diminish

9. to arrive or be last.

   He finally trailed in at 10 o'clock.

10. to be losing in a contest.

    The home team was trailing 20 to 15.

11. to creep or crawl, as a serpent.

12. to follow a track or scent, as of game.

13. (of a plant) to extend itself in growth along the ground rather than taking root or clinging by tendrils, etc.

noun

• trails
  plural

1. a path or track made across a wild region, over rough country, or the like, by the passage of people or animals.

2. the track, scent, or the like, left by an animal, person, or thing, especially as followed by a hunter, hound, or other pursuer.

   Synonyms:

   spoor

3. something that is trailed or that trails behind, as the train of a skirt or robe.

4. a stream of dust, smoke, light, people, vehicles, etc., behind something moving.

5. Artillery. the part of a gun carriage that rests on the ground when the piece is unlimbered.

6. Architecture. a running vine, leaf, or tendril ornament, as in a Gothic molding.

idioms

1. trail arms,

   1. to hold a rifle in the right hand at an oblique angle, with the muzzle forward and the butt a few inches off the ground.

   2. a command to trail arms.

trail British  

/ treɪl /

verb

1. to drag or stream, or permit to drag or stream along a surface, esp the ground

   her skirt trailed

   she trailed her skipping rope

2. to make (a track or path) through (a place)

   to trail a way

   to trail a jungle

3. to chase, follow, or hunt (an animal or person) by following marks or tracks

4. to lag or linger behind (a person or thing)

5. (intr) (esp of plants) to extend or droop over or along a surface

6. (intr) to be falling behind in a race or competition

   the favourite is trailing at the last fence

7. (tr) to tow (a boat, caravan, etc) behind a motor vehicle

8. (tr) to carry (a rifle) at the full length of the right arm in a horizontal position, with the muzzle to the fore

9. (intr) to move wearily or slowly

   we trailed through the city

10. (tr) (on television or radio) to advertise (a future programme) with short extracts

11. to invite a quarrel by deliberately provocative behaviour

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noun

1. a print, mark, or marks made by a person, animal, or object

2. the act or an instance of trailing

3. the scent left by a moving person or animal that is followed by a hunting animal

4. a path, track, or road, esp one roughly blazed

5. something that trails behind or trails in loops or strands

6. the part of a towed gun carriage and limber that connects the two when in movement and rests on the ground as a partial support when unlimbered

7. engineering the distance between the point of contact of a steerable wheel and a line drawn from the swivel pin axis to the ground

8. (on television or radio) an advertisement for a future programme

trail More Idioms  

1. see blaze a trail.

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Synonym Usage

See path.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nontrailing
  adjective
• trail-less
  adjective
• trailless
  adjective
• untrailed
  adjective
• untrailing
  adjective
• trailingly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• trails
  plural

Participles

• trailing
  present
• trailed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• trail
  simple
• trails
  simple
• have trailed
  perfect
• has trailed
  perfect
• am trailing
  progressive
• are trailing
  progressive
• is trailing
  progressive
• have been trailing
  perfect progressive
• has been trailing
  perfect progressive

Past

• trailed
  simple
• had trailed
  perfect
• was trailing
  progressive
• were trailing
  progressive
• had been trailing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will trail
  simple
• will have trailed
  perfect
• will be trailing
  progressive
• will have been trailing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of trail

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English trailen “to draw or drag in the rear”; compare Old English træglian “to tear off”; cognate with Middle Dutch traghelen “to drag”; akin to Latvian dragât “to tear off, drag”

Explanation

A trail is an unpaved path, like the narrow trail you follow through the woods on your hike. A trail can also be a series of clues that are left behind, also forming a kind of path. You can walk along a trail, and you can also follow a trail: "My little brother left a trail of cracker crumbs behind him, so I found him right away." When you trail, you move slowly behind something or someone, or you drag something on the ground: "She sadly trails her deflated balloon behind her." You also might trail someone you're chasing: "My dog likes to trail squirrels around the yard."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

trail trails trailed trailing

"They're so funny looking. There's something about the very oversized bill, their behaviour on some of the trail camera footage, the nuzzling behaviour. And they're also so clumsy."

From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026

With the trail name “Fairhope,” my brother Laurence became the first in our family to complete the Appalachian Trail in 1992, followed by my parents, known as “Annie and the Salesman,” in 1994.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2026

The same goes for categories that don’t seem traditionally fermentation-forward: Pickle-flavored trail mix grew by 10%, as opposed to 4% for the general category.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

A rare looping trail of fossilized footprints in Colorado is giving scientists a detailed look at how a giant dinosaur moved 150 million years ago.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 11, 2026

All morning, they followed the trail through the beech wood and then through a spruce forest, turning north east and steadily climbing.

From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver

Walking on uneven terrain, such as on grass, gravel or bush trails, can help maintain proprioception.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 16, 2026

Johnson-Thompson will seek to limit her losses in the shot put - typically one of her weakest events - as she trails leader Sulek-Schubert by 141 points, and the podium places by 80.

From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026

A network of redwood forest trails awaits 2 miles up the road in Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Preserve.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026

Located near Ouray, the trackway is one of the most continuous and tightly curved sauropod footprint trails ever recorded.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 11, 2026

There were lots of trails back there for hikers, mountain bikers, and horseback riders.

From "Mystery Map (The Hardy Boys: Secret Files, #3)" by Franklin W. Dixon

That portfolio has trailed the broader market since he took the fund and his firm public in April.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

But having trailed the League Two side 3-1 at half-time, Villa responded with seven goals in the second half to secure the win.

From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026

As a result, ETFs tracking Russell’s large-stock growth benchmark, such as iShares Russell 1000 Growth, trailed far behind funds linked to other large-growth indexes with bigger positions in hot chip stocks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

The Sparks trailed by only one point, 85-84, entering the fourth quarter.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026

Still in utter shock, I trailed behind my mom as she walked up to the security transfer.

From "Glitch" by Laura Martin

Initially set a trailing closing stop at $50 for these calls.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 2026

Lindblad is trailing in the championship by 20 points, yes, but on pure pace there is little to choose between them.

From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026

The stock wouldn’t hit bottom for four months, by which time its trailing multiple of price-to-sales fell to barely half the company’s long-term average.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026

Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving leader, is running even or trailing in some polls ahead of October 27 elections, the country's first since the devastating 2023 attack by Hamas that sparked the Gaza war.

From Barron's ● Aug. 10, 2026

He turned to see the fox racing down towards the door with Friar Hugo trailing far behind, shouting for all he was worth.

From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques

Related Words

• aisle
• pathway
• road
• route
• stream
• train