retrace
Americanverb (used with object)
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to trace backward; go back over.
to retrace one's steps.
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to go back over with the memory.
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to go over again with the sight or attention.
verb
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to go back over (one's steps, a route, etc) again
we retraced the route we took last summer
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to go over (a past event) in the mind; recall
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to go over (a story, account, etc) from the beginning
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of retrace
1690–1700; < French retracer, Middle French retracier, equivalent to re- re- + tracier to trace 1
Explanation
To retrace is to walk the same path again, or to follow a path someone else has taken. You could visit the town your ancestors came from and attempt to retrace their steps there. When you lose your glasses, some helpful person may ask you, "Did you retrace your steps?" What they're suggesting is that you walk everywhere you went earlier, checking as you go to see if you left them on a table or desk nearby. A detective will also retrace someone's steps to solve a crime, looking for clues while walking where the suspect walked. Trace means "outline," but also "follow a line or a path."
Vocabulary lists containing retrace
Week 2: Trial and Error
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The First State of Being
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
With Ukrainian airspace closed because of the war with Russia, they will then retrace their steps to Poland and fly to London for next week's second leg.
From BBC • Apr. 30, 2026
To help drive his point home, Krinsky cited several recent examples: Silver prices soared in January, before a punishing selloff saw the white metal retrace nearly all of its year-to-date gains.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 28, 2026
But there’s a limit to how many similar instances, all with the same structure, the film can retrace before it gives way to monotony.
From Salon • Apr. 26, 2026
Fellow hobbits “Sam, Merry and Pippin set out to retrace the first steps of their adventure” while a new generation seeks to unearth a “long-buried secret.”
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 25, 2026
Indeed, if one were to retrace the Burr-Hamilton route across the Hudson and land just upstream from the modern-day Lincoln Tunnel, one would come face-to-face with a sheer cliff 150 feet high.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
