Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary полностью

1 VERB If you trace the origin or development of something, you find out or describe how it started or developed. □ [V n] The exhibition traces the history of graphic design in America from the 19th century to the present. □ [V n + to ] The psychiatrist successfully traced some of her problems to severe childhood traumas. ● PHRASAL VERB Trace back means the same as trace . □ [V n P + to ] Britain's Parliament can trace its history back to the English Parliament of the 13th century. □ [V P n] She has never traced back her lineage, but believes her grandparents were from Aberdeenshire.

2 VERB If you trace someone or something, you find them after looking for them. □ [V n] Police are anxious to trace two men seen leaving the house just before 8am.

3 VERB If you trace something such as a pattern or a shape, for example with your finger or toe, you mark its outline on a surface. □ [V n] I traced the course of the river on the map.

4 VERB If you trace a picture, you copy it by covering it with a piece of transparent paper and drawing over the lines underneath. □ [V n] She learned to draw by tracing pictures out of old storybooks.

5 N‑COUNT A trace of something is a very small amount of it. □ [+ of ] Wash them in cold water to remove all traces of sand.

6 N‑COUNT [oft without N ] A trace is a sign which shows you that someone or something has been in a place. □ [+ of ] There's been no trace of my aunt and uncle. □  Finally, and mysteriously, she disappeared without trace.

7 PHRASE If you say that someone or something sinks without trace or sinks without a trace , you mean that they stop existing or stop being successful very suddenly and completely. □  His party has sunk without trace at these elections.

▸  trace back → see trace 1 SYNONYMS trace VERB 2

find:The police also found a pistol.

track down:She had spent years trying to track down her parents.

discover:A few days later his badly beaten body was discovered on a roadside outside the city.

unearth:…the unearthing of a plot to assassinate the President.

trace|able /tre I səb ^ə l/ ADJ [usu v-link ADJ ] If one thing is traceable to another, there is evidence to suggest that the first thing was caused by or is connected to the second thing. □ [+ to ] The probable cause of his death is traceable to an incident in 1724.

tra ce el|ement (trace elements )

1 N‑COUNT A trace element is a chemical element such as iron or zinc that occurs in very small amounts in living things and is necessary for normal growth and development.

2 N‑COUNT A trace element is a very small amount of a chemical element that is found in a metal or other substance.

tra|chea /trəkiː ə, [AM ] tre I kiə/ (tracheas or tracheae /trəkiː i, [AM ] tre I kiiː/) N‑COUNT Your trachea is your windpipe . [MEDICAL ]

tra c|ing pa|per N‑UNCOUNT Tracing paper is transparent paper which you put over a picture so that you can draw over its lines in order to produce a copy of it.

track ◆◆◇ /træ k/ (tracks , tracking , tracked )

1 N‑COUNT A track is a narrow road or path. □  We set off once more, over a rough mountain track.

2 N‑COUNT A track is a piece of ground, often oval-shaped, that is used for races involving athletes, cars, bicycles, horses, or dogs called greyhounds. □  The two men turned to watch the horses going round the track. □  …the athletics track.

3 N‑COUNT [usu pl] Railway tracks are the rails that a train travels along. □  A woman fell on to the tracks.

4 N‑COUNT A track is one of the songs or pieces of music on a recording.