trail
verb (used with object)
to drag or let drag along the ground or other surface; draw or drag along behind.
was trailing
-
past progressiveof trail.past progressive
Used to describe an ongoing action or continuous state that was happening at a specific time in the past.
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.
Harvie won handily in his primary, but Baines, in the California primary on Tuesday, was trailing her progressive opponent, Randy Villegas, at the time of writing, though the race was too close to call.
From Salon ● Jun. 5, 2026
And in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, veteran politician MK Stalin was trailing, challenged by a political debutante -- film star C. Joseph Vijay.
From Barron's ● May 4, 2026
His Fidesz party was trailing the opposition Tisza party, 39% to 48%, in a Feb. 28 Economist polling survey.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 13, 2026
The calls weren’t the only sources of frustration for the Sparks — the team also was trailing the last-place Connecticut Sun by 10 points.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2025
From a parent’s point of view, it wasn’t a bad way to raise teenagers—knowing that a set of watchful adults was trailing them at all times, tasked with extricating them from any sort of emergency.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
