trail
verb · noun
Simple meaning
Hang down so as to drag along the ground.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
traylIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈtɹeɪl
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
Hang down so as to drag along the ground
“The bride's veiled trailed along the ground.”
transitive
To drag (something) behind on the ground.
To lag or linger behind
transitive
To follow behind (someone or something); to tail (someone or something).
Drag loosely along a surface; allow to sweep the ground
“The toddler was trailing his pants.”
transitive
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.
noun
A track or mark left by something that has passed
“There as a trail of blood.”
A route for travel over land, especially a narrow, unpaved pathway for use by hikers, horseback riders, etc.
A route or circuit generally.
The horizontal distance from where the wheel touches the ground to where the steering axis intersects the ground.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Hang down so as to drag along the ground
Used this way, trail is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“The bride's veiled trailed along the ground.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
How It’s Used
The word’s distinct uses, one example each.
Hang / dragverb
“The bride's veiled trailed along the ground.”
Tracknoun
“There as a trail of blood.”
More ways to use trail
- “John trailed behind his class mates.”verb
- “There as a trail of blood.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
Someone who takes more time than necessary.
The pursuit (of a person or animal) by following tracks or marks they left behind.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A camp where space for house trailers can be rented.
A camp where space for house trailers can be rented.
A truck consisting of a tractor and trailer together.
Low-growing evergreen shrub of eastern North America with leathery leaves and clusters of fragrant pink or white flowers.
The rear edge of an airfoil.
Trailing plant having crowded clusters of 3 brilliant deep pink flowers resembling a single flower blooming near the ground.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
Someone who marks a trail by leaving blazes on trees.
The beginning of a trail.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: track
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.