▪ I. trail, n.1
(treɪl)
Also 5 traille, trele, (6 treale), 5–7 trayle, 6–8 traile, 7 trayl.
[Known in sense 1 from 14th c.; in other senses only from 15th c. or later. App. f. trail v.1]
I. Something that trails or hangs trailing.
† 1. a. The train of a robe or other garment. Obs.
| 13.. Cursor M. 28020 (Cott.) Yee leuedis..Thoru your trail bath wide and side, Es not at seke to find your pride. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 499/1 Trayle, or trayne of a clothe, sirma. 1688 R. Holme Armoury iv. xii. (Roxb.) 503/2 The traile or traine of this great mantle was layd on his left shoulder. |
b. A trailing or hanging article of clothing.
| 1896 Barrie Sent. Tommy x, The shrewd blasts cutting through my thin trails of claithes. |
c. A long trailing or loose-hanging slender mass of hair, fibres, or the like; ‘any thing drawn to length’ (J.).
| 1844 Mrs. Browning Portrait iii, Oval cheeks..Which a trail of golden hair Keeps from fading off to air. 1881 Blackmore Christowell iii, Running up to him, with her long grape-scissors in her hand, and a trail of bast around her neck. |
2. a. A trailing ornament (carved, moulded, or embroidered) in the form of a wreath or spray of leaves or tendrils; a wreathed or foliated ornament.
[Some take this, and
esp. 2 b, as belonging to
trail n.2;
prob. the two words tended to run together.]
| a 1423 in Archæologia LXI. 171, ij Fiols of on sute of silver and gild, Graven aboute w{supt} a traille of Ive levys. 1454 Test. Ebor. (Surtees) II. 175 A couered pece with a trele of roses opon ye couerynge. 1480–81 in Hope Windsor Castle (1913) 401 Ac lxii pedum de lez Traillez et Crestes. 1533 Hampton Crt. Acc. in E. Law Hist. Hampton Crt. (1885) 352 To Robert Skyngke..moulder of Antyke-worke, for a trayle of antyk sett in the great Joull-pece in the Kynges new Hall, conteynyng 71 yards in leyngthe, 8 inches brode, at 16 d. the yard. 1551 Sir J. Williams Accompte (Abbotsf. 1836) 52 A riche cope of crymsyn veluet..embrodred all ower with a traile and Fawcions of Venice golde. 1557–8 in Hope Windsor Castle (1913) 260 The armes of England and Spaine with the treales to the same. a 1618 Sylvester Ode to Astræa vii, That soft Sattin limme, With blew trayles enameld trimme. 1869 Boutell Arms & Arm. v. (1874) 78 A trail of foliage..filled the space between the angular bands. |
b. A wreath or spray of (natural) leaves, etc.; a trailing tendril or branch. (
Cf. 1 c.)
| 1598 Drayton Heroic. Ep. i. 117 A little Current..Which like a wanton Trayle creepes here and there. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 184 The late Narcissus, and the winding Trail Of Bears-foot, Myrtles green, and Ivy pale. 1725 Bradley's Fam. Dict. s.v. Strawberry, As soon as they shoot forth their Trails, you must take care to cut 'em. 1833 H. Martineau Cinnamon & P. iii, They had never entangled their feet in trails of the blue convolvulus. a 1861 T. Woolner Beautiful Lady, Her Shadow vii, Nigh clad in trails of tangled eglantine. |
c. attrib. or as adj.| 1533 Hampton Crt. Acc. in E. Law Hist. Hampton Crt. (1885) 352, 71 yardes in length and 8 inches brode, of trayle moldyd worke. 1644 Evelyn Diary 1 Apr., Next the streete side..are knotts in trayle or grasse worke. 1649 G. Daniel Trinarch. To Rdr. 104 Speed, Cutt in sippetts, Trussell, layd about For a trayle Garnish. 1684 Lond. Gaz. No. 1944/4 A Petticoat of Musk coloured Silk,..the Flowers Trail Silver. |
II. Something trailed or made by trailing.
† 3. A sledge [
= L.
tragula].
Obs.| 1570 Levins Manip. 198/43 A Trayle, sledde, traha. 1576 in Ripon Ch. Acts (Surtees) 379 For a trayle to hym, 12 d. 1588 Durham Wills (Surtees) II. 330, ij long lethers, j traile, ij flekes, j nowt heck, 12s. 1600 D. Settle in Hakluyt Voy. III. 37 They frank or keepe certaine dogs..which they yoke togither, as we do oxen & horses, to a sled or traile: and so carry their necessaries ouer the yce and snow. |
4. A drag-net [
= L.
tragula]. Also
trail-net: see 17. (Also
fig.)
| 1711 W. King tr. Naude's Ref. Politics v. 198 The first that made trails, and found out casting-nets to make men captives. 1807 P. Gass Jrnl. 29 The fish here are generally pike... What we caught were taken with trails or brush nets. |
5. The hinder end of the stock of a gun-carriage, which rests or slides on the ground when the carriage is unlimbered.
Cf. train n.1 20.
| 1768 J. Muller Treat. Artillery Vocab., Trail, is the end of the travelling carriage opposite to the wheels, and upon which the carriage slides, when unlimbered. 1803 Wellington in Gurw. Desp. (1837) II. 565 There is no remedy,..excepting to lengthen considerably the trail of the carriage. 1868 Rep. to Govt. U.S. Munitions War 95 The gun is mounted on a field-carriage, with trail of the usual form. |
6. Anything drawn behind as an appendage; a body or collection
of things or persons, drawn along by, or following in the wake of, something or some one, or moving steadily along in a lengthened formation so as to suggest this; a train.
| 1621 Quarles Argalus & P. (1678) 85 A rising Sun..From whence ten thousand trails of gold came down In waving points. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. i. 504 Seeming Stars..shooting through the Darkness..With..long Trails of Light. 1770 Langhorne Plutarch (1851) I. 282/1 Dreadful thunders..mingled with long trails of lightning. 1856 Mrs. Browning Aur. Leigh i. 86 From which long trail of chanting priests and girls. 1872 Black Adv. Phaeton xx, The wind was apparent in the hurrying trails of cloud. |
7. a. A mark left where something has been trailed or has passed along; a trace, track. Also
fig.| 1610 J. Guillim Heraldry ii. vii. (1660) 77 Upton tearmeth it in Latine, Tractus which signifieth a Trace, or Traile, because the field is seen both within and without it; and the Traile itselfe is drawn thereupon in a different colour. [See tract n.3 6 (a).] 1727 Gay Fables i. xxiv. 12 A snail,..with slimy trail Crawls o'er the grass. 1817 Moore Lalla R., Par. & Peri, But the trail of the serpent is over them all. 1833 Marryat P. Simple xxix, I used to watch them [sharks] during the night watch, as their fins, above water, skimmed along, leaving a trail of light behind them. 1856 Mrs. Browning Aur. Leigh ii. 21 Brushing a green trail across the lawn With my gown in the dew. 1864 Skeat Uhland's Poems 124 The heights were touched with May's fair golden trail. 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 865 In the imperfectly washed, a trail of dirt marks the course of the burrow [of the itch insect]. |
b. spec. in astronomical photography, The line or trace produced by the motion of the image of a star across the plate during exposure.
| 1889 Anthony's Photogr. Bull. II. 185 On developing numerous stars will be found which are invisible to the naked eye. The stars will all leave trails, forming arcs of concentric circles whose center lies near the center of the plate. 1891 Ibid. IV. 83 When the plate is developed it will contain a series of lines or trails produced by the light of the star as it crossed the plate. |
8. spec. The track or other indication, as scent, left by a person or animal,
esp. as followed by a huntsman or hound, or by any pursuer. Also
fig.| 1590 Cokaine Treat. Hunting D ij b, Take your [otter] houndes to the place..and cast your traylors off vpon the trayle you thinke best. 1602 Shakes. Ham. iv. v. 109 How cheerefully on the false Traile they cry, Oh this is Counter you false Danish Dogges. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 120 The best manner to teach these hounds is to take a live hare, and trail her after you upon the earth;..after⁓ward set forth your hound near the trail. 1741 Compl. Fam.-Piece ii. i. 295 A sure Sign they are upon the Scent; that is, where the Fox hath passed that Night, it is called a Drag or Trail. 1805 Pike Sources Mississ. (1810) 38, I was determined..if we came on the trail of elk, to follow them..in order to kill one. 1806 Ibid. 57 My sentinel informed us, that some Indians were coming full speed upon our trail or track. 1827 J. F. Cooper Prairie iii, Did you ever run him upon the trail of carrion? 1837 W. Irving Capt. Bonneville (1849) 111 Vandenburgh put himself upon their trail, to trace them to their place of concealment. a 1859 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xxiv. (1861) V. 143 The Spanish Ambassador..followed the trail with such skill and perseverance that he discovered, if not the whole truth, yet enough [etc.]. 1888 P. Lindley in Times 16 Oct. 10/5 The hound..took up the stale trail over some rather trying ground without a fault. |
b. Something strong-smelling trailed or drawn along the ground to produce a scent for hounds to follow:
= drag n. 6 b.
| 1763 Brit. Mag. IV. 553 They ran after a trail drawn by a man on horseback about 10 minutes before the hounds started. 1781 P. Beckford Hunting (1802) 85 A cat is as good a trail as any. |
9. A path or track worn by the passage of persons travelling in a wild or uninhabited region; a beaten track, a rude path. (Chiefly in
U.S. and
Canada; also
N.Z. and
Austral.)
Cf. nature trail s.v. nature n. 15 a.
| 1807 P. Gass Jrnl. 125 We proceeded down the river through dreadful narrows, where the rocks were in some places breast high, and no path or trail of any kind. 1860 J. Burnett Let. 15 Mar. in H. F. von Haast Life & Times Sir Julius von Haast (1948) viii. 85 Crossed the Alexander stream and struck Mackay's last year's trail. 1875 Temple & Sheldon Hist. Northfield, Mass. 50 Indian Paths—which were narrow trails worn by the feet in marching single file—crossed the country in various directions. 1894 C. L. Johnstone Canada 81 A trail, as the Canadians call the tracks which do instead of roads. 1939 WPA Guide to Florida (1984) i. 117 In Hillsboro River State Park..are overnight cabins, trails, roads, and a museum. 1958 Tararua XII. 25 A trail seems to be something narrow and perhaps rather hard to follow—a way marked only by blazes or worn by animals, usually deer. A track seems to be something broader, cut or formed by man. 1968 Mrs. L. B. Johnson White House Diary 2 Oct. (1970) 714 A system of urban and rural trails, including the Pacific Coast Trail from Mexico to Canada. 1968 K. Weatherly Roo Shooter 47 The ancestors of the roos used this path. It was miles wide and invisible... When this country is closely settled and these trails are sealed, the red kangaroos will die out. 1977 Times 23 Apr. 12/5 There are well marked trails for independent hikers. Ibid. 12/7 The benefit of camping and picnic grounds, walking and hiking trails. 1982 G. M. Fraser Flashman & Redskins 161 From Santa Fe to Algodones on the river the trail was dotted that night with emigrant camp-fires. |
10. Geol. A name for certain mixed glacial or other deposits resting upon older formations.
(So called as
app. marking the track of floating ice.)
| 1866 O. Fisher in Q. Jrnl. Geol. Soc. 20 June 555, I have found that cylindrical pits and pipes are generally confined to soluble beds, and that the normal form of the cavities in clays, sands, and gravels is that of troughs or furrows. They are usually filled with materials derived from some neighbouring higher ground... For the sake of a name I shall call the materials which fill these furrows the ‘trail’. 1882 Geikie Text-bk. Geol. vi. v. ii. §2. 908 A remarkable bed of clay, loam, and gravel (‘loess’ or ‘trail’). 1884 W. G. Smith in Jrnl. Anthropol. Inst. XIII. 358 The whole of the ‘Palæolithic floor’ is..covered with the ‘warp and trail’ belonging to the last geological period of great cold. 1897 Archæol. Jrnl. Dec. 375 Where the flints are buried, in the ‘head’ or ‘rain wash’ or ‘run o' th' hills’ or trail, or whatever we may call the surface accumulation. |
11. Radio and
Television. A piece of advance publicity (often an excerpt) broadcast prior to the transmission of a programme.
Cf. trail v.
1 4;
trailer n. 4 b.
| 1973 Listener 6 Dec. 798/1 Accidentally switching on early..on Radio 3..I heard..off-putting trails. 1980 Broadcast 7 July 24/3 The TV Presentation Department..make hundreds of commercials every year in the form of programme trails. |
III. Action of trailing.
12. The action of dragging oneself or something along, or of creeping or crawling; also
dial., a tiring walk.
rare.
| a 1547 Surrey æneid ii. 284 The serpents twine [= twain] with hasted traile they glide To Pallas temple. 1674 N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. World 141 The souls business in the wagon or vehicle of the body is..rather to ride in state than to ride post, ennobling the body by its curious draughts and trails of enlivening sprightlinesses. 1876 Whitby Gloss. s.v., ‘A lang trail’, a tiresome journey. |
13. The action of hunting by the trail; chase by the track or scent.
| 1669 Dryden Wild Gallant iii. i, To come upon the spur after a trayl at four in the afternoon to destruction of cold meat and cheese. 1902 O. Wister Virginian ix, All winter he had ridden trail, worked at ditches during summer. |
14. Mil. The act of trailing a rifle, or the position of it when trailed (see
trail v.
1 2).
| 1833 Regul. Instr. Cavalry i. 29 The barrel..may be..examined at the trail. 1847 Infantry Man. (1854) 30 Trail Arms... Bring it down to the trail on the right side. Ibid. 40 b, The short trail must never be used. 1892 Greener Breech-Loader 193 At the ‘trail’, that is, grasped in the right hand, the arm at full length, and the gun horizontal. |
15. An act of drawing out, enticing, or befooling.
rare—1.
| 1847 [see trail v.1 3 b]. |
IV. 16. A woman who trails her dress along the ground; an untidy woman, slattern, slut.
Sc.| 1825 Jamieson, Trail, a term of reproach for a dirty woman; as, ‘Ye wile trail’, you nasty hussy, Aberd. 1878 A. Paul Rand. Writ. 28 It is a very old saying..that no man should marry a trail, which meant a female who trailed her dress through the gutters. 1901 Trotter E. Galloway Sk. 102/2 Come, bring me quick, ye useless trail, The gully knife to sheer the kail. |
V. 17. attrib. and
Comb. (some of which may be from
trail v.
1), as
trail-blazer,
trail-blazing vbl. n. and
ppl. adj.,
trail-breaking vbl. n. and
ppl. adj.,
trail-cutter,
trail-herd,
trail-herder,
trail-hunting,
trail-maker,
trail-man,
trail-robbery,
trail-trot;
trail-weary adj.; see also 2 c;
trail-bar, a wooden bar for turning the trail of a gun-carriage in pointing the gun;
trail bike orig. U.S., a motor-cycle designed for use on country tracks rather than on roads;
trail-board, a carved piece in a ship: see
quot.;
trail boss U.S., a foreman in charge of a cattle-drive;
trail-car (
U.S.)
= trailer n. 6 a;
trail-cart (
dial.): see
quots. 1770–1896;
trail-eye = trail-plate-eye;
trail-handspike = trail-bar;
trail head N. Amer., the beginning of a trail for walkers (
occas. also for skiers); an organizational centre at such a place;
trail-hound, (
a) [
hound n.1 4 e]
= trail-blazer above; (
b) a small hound bred for the sport of hound trailing;
trail lever, ‘a trailing lever hinged to the spindle-carriage of a spinning-mule’ (
Cent. Dict. Suppl.);
trail-net, a fishing-net that is trailed or drawn along, a drag-net;
Trail of Tears U.S. (see
quot. 1930);
trail-plank, a plank for supporting the trail of a gun-carriage;
trail-plate, an iron plate attached to the trail of a gun-carriage; hence
trail-plate-eye, an ‘eye’ or perforated piece fixed on the trail-plate, used in limbering up;
trail-riding, motor-cycling with a trail bike;
trail-rope, a rope used for trailing or drawing something: (
a)
U.S., a long rope used for tethering animals loosely; (
b) in a gun-carriage
= prolonge; (
c) a rope trailed on the ground to check the speed of a balloon;
trail-scent = sense 8 b above (
cf. train-scent);
trail-spade, a projection at the lower end of the trail of a gun-carriage;
trailway N. Amer., a route through rough country cleared and maintained for recreational walking.
| 1828 J. M. Spearman Brit. Gunner (ed. 2) 116 *Trail Bearings. (Cast Iron.) |
| 1969 Time 12 Sept. 17 Anyone hoping to escape the..cities for the quiet beauty of our woods, mountains or deserts is in for a rude shock. He is greeted by the rattling snarl of *trail bikes, dune-buggies and the like. 1972 Fairbanks (Alaska) Daily News-Miner 3 Nov. 23/5 (Advt.), Extended bumper on rear for snowmobile, trail bikes. 1976 New Motorcycling Monthly Oct. 4/4 Yamaha, of course, have reincarnated the good old 500cc four-stroke single, but in trail-bike trim. |
| 1908 Daily Chron. 19 May 3/2 Mrs. Hubbard's journey..with a small party of ‘*trail blazers’ native to the ways of Labrador. 1937 Discovery July p. lix/1 Trail blazers of science. 1972 Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 3 Feb. 8/1 Agriculture Minister Shelford lauded his party as being trailblazers in humanity through fiscal astuteness during the throne speech. |
| 1934 Webster, *Trail blazing. 1957 V. Packard Hidden Persuaders xxi. 233 Tide, the merchandisers' journal, admonished America's merchandisers to pay attention to this trail-blazing development as it might be ‘tomorrow's marketing target.’ 1968 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 3 Feb. 43/3 (Advt.), Acres of wonderful wood for trail blazing and riding. 1971 Advocate-News (Barbados) 17 Sept. (Guyana Suppl.) p. iv/3 Volunteers..cleared the last few feet of bush for their historic meeting on top of a hill called Point Jason (after a trail-blazing pioneer who supervises the project). 1973 C. Bonington Next Horizon xxi. 279 We all agreed that it [sc. a climb] was as hard as anything we had ever done, with very little to show for each day's trail-blazing. |
| 1704 J. Harris Lex. Techn. I, *Traile-board, in a Ship, is a carved Board on each side of her Beak, reaching from her Main Stem to the Figure, or to the Brackets. |
| 1890 Stock Grower & Farmer 21 Jan. 6/3 *Trail bosses bronzed from exposure..are familiar sights. 1921 [see pile v.2 3 c]. 1977 Daily Mirror 15 Mar. 24/1 What was the name of the actor who played the trail boss in the TV Western series ‘Rawhide’? |
| 1912 L. J. Vance Destroying Angel xviii. 232 ‘Must I make talk, then?’ she demanded. ‘If we must, I suppose— you'll have to show the way. My mind's hardly equal to *trail-breaking to-day.’ 1965 T. A. Sebeok in Language XLI. 80 In this trailbreaking paper, he [sc. Trubetzkoy] reduced the supposed multiplicity of vowel patterns to a small number of symmetrical models. 1971 C. Bonington Annapurna South Face xiii. 171 Even in descent it took him an hour, and without his trail-breaking from above Martin and Mike Thompson would have had an exhausting time forcing the route from below. |
| 1770–4 A. Hunter Georg. Ess. (1804) II. 370 To bruise out the grain by sledges or *trail carts. 1861 Smiles Engineers II. 109 Sledges or trail-carts were also used for the same purpose; but the most common instrument employed was the flail. 1896 Crockett Grey Man xii, A trail-cart,..a box with shafts like a carriage, but without wheels, mounted on a great brush of branches and twigs, which..scored the ground with a thousand ruts and scratches. |
| 1887 Pall Mall G. 30 Mar. 6/1 Large numbers of *trail cattle, driven recklessly into Wyoming in 1881. |
| 1858 Brit. Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 11 Dec. 2/4 The majority of the Lillooet *trail cutters would have remained had it not been grossly mismanaged. 1903 A. Adams Log of Cowboy vii. 88 Four..strange men..representing themselves as trail cutters. 1958 Edmonton (Alberta) Jrnl. 24 June 46/1 The trail-cutters work a four-month season in the winter. |
| 1971 Islander (Victoria, B.C.) 30 May 12/4 Another satisfactory water supply can be found at the southern end of the beach, just past the *trail head. 1976 Stillwater (Montana) News 1 July 12/3 Backpackers, fishermen, day hikers, or anyone else using outdoor trails, should sign in on the log book at the trailhead where these are available. 1981 Nordic Skiing Jan. 48/2 The Warming Hut on Butternut Lake serves as the trail⁓head where a skier can..arrange for instruction, rentals, accessories, [etc.]. |
| 1885 Weekly New Mexican Rev. 18 June 1/3 The *trail herds in Colfax county must go forward or turn back at once. 1962 G. MacEwan Blazing Old Cattle Trail i. 1 Ever since the Patriarch, Abraham,..stockmen have been driving trail herds to far places. |
| 1890 Stock Grower & Farmer 19 Apr. 3/3 Cattle inspectors of New Mexico were holding up *trail herders for one and one-half cents per head. |
| 1931 Times Lit. Suppl. 29 Oct. 839/2 The writer is what in her mountaineering vernacular might be called ‘a *trail hound’. 1972 Shooting Times & Country Mag. 27 May 27/1 From all this evolved the trail hound, a smaller, lighter type altogether than his near relative, the Fell foxhound. 1978 R. Hill Pinch of Snuff vii. 73 She [sc. a cat] was born on a Cumberland farm and reckons she's a trail-hound. |
| 1890 J. Nasmith Mod. Cotton Spinning Mach. xi. 206 The traverse of the locking lever prior to locking is gradually lessened as the *trail lever slide L is lowered. 1892 ― Cotton Spinning viii. 270 The shoulder R is pulled over the bowl carried at the end of the lever L, called the ‘trail’ lever, which is hinged to the carriage. |
| 1901 Wide World Mag. VIII. 156/2 A couple of the *trail-makers visited the cabin and found the partners there. 1905 Athenæum 5 Aug. 183/2 A series of reprints or translations of the narratives of ‘Trailmakers’, from the earliest times to the close of the eighteenth century. |
| 1858 Brit. Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 27 Dec. 3/2 The man..was no *trail-man but a stranger. 1891 Harper's Mag. Nov. 886/2 The trail-men are sent out to cut what in general parlance would be called a path. |
| 1820 Jodrell, *Trailnet, or Trawlnet. 1877 Knight Dict. Mech., Trail-net, a net drawn or trailed behind a boat; or by two persons on opposite banks in sweeping a stream. |
| 1930 E. Ferber Cimarron 40 Tears came to his own eyes when he spoke of that blot on southern civilization, the *Trail of Tears, in which the Cherokees, a peaceful and home-loving Indian tribe, were torn [1838–9] from the land which a government had given them by sworn treaty, to be sent far away on a march which, from cold, hunger, exposure, and heartbreak, was marked by bleaching bones from Georgia to Oklahoma. 1978 Peace News 6 Oct. 7/2 It was named after the many Long Walks since the Andrew Jackson presidency, including walks like the Trail of Tears in which the Indian people were forced to trek vast distances overland as an expansionist government laid claim to their traditional homelands. 1984 Miami Herald 6 Apr. 6a/2 Tribal leaders are calling the reunion the most important event for the Cherokee Nation since the Indians were driven from their southern lands in the 1838 ‘Trail of Tears’. |
| 1859 F. A. Griffiths Artill. Man. (1862) 115 One *trail plank... This plank is placed on the ground, so that the trail of a siege carriage may rest on it. |
| 1828 J. M. Spearman Brit. Gunner (ed. 2) 17 *Trail-plate Eyes. |
| 1931 C. Aldin in Hunloke & Aldin Riding vi. 105 *Trail riding..gives us a day's riding with a picnic, and teaches us where the side tracks and bypaths on a place like Exmoor lead to. 1979 Daily Tel. 13 Jan. 8 These tracks..provide great scope for that non-competitive and gentle form of motor-cycling known as trail-riding. |
| 1901 Wide World Mag. VIII. 154/2 The territory had been remarkably free from serious crime, and *trail-robberies were unknown. |
| 1826 G. C. Sibley Diary 15 Mar. in A. B. Hulbert Southwest on Turquoise Trail (1933) 162, I have paid away the following sums, since I left Sta. Fee..14 *trail ropes, 14·00. 1851 Mayne Reid Scalp Hunters xx, Mules and mustangs, picketed on long trail-ropes. 1899 Westm. Gaz. 31 July 10/2 We opened the valve to hasten our descent before reaching it, and at 8.8 our trail-rope touched the ground. |
| 1682 Lond. Gaz. No. 1711/8 A *Trail Scent for Hounds. 1781 P. Beckford Hunting (1802) 85 You say, you should like to see your young hounds run a trail-scent. |
| 1904 Sci. Amer. 21 May 402/2 The carriage..permits of checking the recoil without undue strain..through a *trail-spade provided with an elastic joint. |
| 1897 Outing (U.S.) XXIX. 439/1 From the *trail-start to the death it had been no more than a 15-minutes' run. |
| 1895 Kipling 2nd Jungle Bk. 134 They fell into the quick, choppy *trail-trot in and out through the checkers of the moonlight. |
| 1939 Appalachian Trailway News July 6/2 The matter of foremost importance was..to obtain the state recognition and interest in the *Trailway project. 1940 Ibid. Jan. 20/1 The Appalachian Trail or Trailway is entirely a voluntary amateur project. 1972 E. Wigginton Foxfire Bk. 276 We'd gone walkin' along th' trailway. 1978 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 15 Feb. 1/7 About one-third of the route is already owned by the province and the draft plan calls for the gradual acquisition of a 60-foot-wide ‘trailway’ from present landowners. |
| 1894 Outing (U.S.) XXIV. 398/1 The once *trail-weary emigrant, the ranchman of to-day, does the freighting..from the railroad town. |
Senses IV. 16, V. 17 in
Dict. become IV. 17, V. 18. Add:
[III.] 16. In a vehicle, the distance by which the point of contact with the ground of a steered wheel lies behind the intersection with the ground of the steering axis.
| 1929 Newton & Steeds Motor Vehicle xxvii. 315 The amount by which the point of contact of wheel and ground lies behind the intersection of the swivel pin axis with the ground is called the amount of ‘trail’. 1940 in Chambers's Techn. Dict. 1986 Road Racer Aug./Sept. 22/1 Although a change of two inches in wheel diameter might appear small..both ride-height and trail are reduced. |
▸
trail mix n. orig. and chiefly
N. Amer. = gorp n.| 1977 Washington Post (Nexis) 1 Sept. g26 We tried several kinds, good and not so good, before locating what for us was the perfect *Trail Mix. 1981 M. Cunningham & J. Laber Fannie Farmer Cookbk. (1988) 72 Created to provide energy for hikers, trail mix or ‘gorp’ has become an all-purpose snack. 1992 I. Pattison More Rab C. Nesbitt Scripts 10 No worries, my man. I know how yi feel. Get any more dehydrated and yi could use yir balls for trail mix. 2001 Palm Beach (Florida) Post (Electronic ed.) 1 Mar. A Tupperware bowl filled with cheese-flavored trail mix—with cooked mealworms added for flavor—also made the rounds. |
▪ II. † trail, n.2 Obs. Forms: 5
treylle, 5–6
trayle,
traile, 6
trayll,
treyle, 8
treil, 7–8
trail.
[Late ME. treylle, trayle, app. a. OF. treille, traille ‘a bower or arbour of vine branches sustained by trellis-work’ (Littré), also trellis, lattice work grating, grill (for window, door, etc.) = Pr. treilla, trelha:—L. trichila, later also tricla, bower, arbour, summerhouse: see also trellis n.2] 1. A latticed structure for training climbing plants upon; a trellis.
| c 1460 Sir R. Ros La Belle Dame 184, I me withdrew..And set me down aloon, behynd a trayle Ful of leves,..With grene withies y-bounden. 1565 Cooper Thesaurus s.v. Brachium, Brachiata vinea, a vine hauyng longe branches vpon trayles. 1693 Evelyn De la Quint. Compl. Gard. I. 132 Muscat-Grapes..ripen not so well when raised upon high Trails. 1727 Bradley's Fam. Dict. s.v. Gardener, To cut the Trees and Pallisades when there is need of it, as well as the Treils and Arbours. |
2. A lattice; a grating; a grill.
| 1485 Caxton Paris & V. (1868) 64 Or they entred they opened a treylle whyche gaf lyght in to the pryson. c 1500 Melusine 328 He fonde a grete yron trayll, wherin were closed a hondred men..that the geaunt held for hys prysonners. 1552 Elyot, Clatro..to shutte a wyndowe, specially a lattise window: To close with lattise grates, or treyles. |
▪ III. † trail, n.3 Obs. [Aphetic shortening of entrail, orig. enˈtraile.] Entrails, intestines, collectively;
esp. those of certain birds, as woodcock and snipe, and fishes, as red mullet, which are cooked and eaten with the rest of the flesh.
| 1764 Smollett Trav. xviii. (1766) I. 291 The thrush is presented with the trail, because the bird feeds on olives. They may as well eat the trail of a sheep, because it feeds on the aromatic herbs of the mountain. 1772 Wesley Wks. (1872) X. 387 Those that are fond of his bowels may put them in again, and swallow them as they would the trail of a wood⁓cock. 1804 Farley Lond. Art Cookery 40 Baste them with a little butter, and let the trail drop on the toast. 1827 J. H. H. in Hone Every-day Bk. II. 94 Here [in France] they [larks] are always dressed with the trail, like snipes. 1846 A. Soyer Cookery 227 Take the flesh and trails of the woodcocks from the bones. |
▪ IV. trail, v.1 (
treɪl)
Forms: 4–7
traile,
trayle, 5
traylle, 5–6
traille, 6–7
trale, 6–8
trayl, 6–
trail.
[Occurs soon after 1300; agreeing in form with a late OE. træᵹelian, træᵹlian, recorded only in the Prudentius Glosses (Germania n.s. XI. 398–9), glossing L. carpĕre ‘to pluck, snatch, tear away or off’, which does not so suit the ME. sense as to make its identity certain. ME. trayle-n, traille, was app. the same word as ONF. traille-r to haul or tow (a boat), 14th c. in Godef., and also as MLG. treilen, tröilen (1325 in Rügen, 14–15th c. in Brunswick, etc.), MFl. treylen, treilen, treelen, Fl., Du. treilen, LG. treilen, treulen, EFris. treilen, trailen, all ‘to haul or tug (a boat)’. Cf. also LG., Du., Fl. treil tow-line; also ONF. traille (14th c.), trele, tresle, mod.Pr. traillo, Cat. and Sp. tralla, Pg. tralha, all meaning ‘tow-line’ or ‘rope’. It is difficult to correlate the German and the Romanic words; but it is generally supposed that all go back to a late L. or Com. Romanic *tragulāre ‘to drag’, f. L. tragula, meaning (inter alia) a ‘drag-net’, and a small traha or ‘sledge’, f. L. trahĕre, pop.L. *tragĕre (F. traire) to ‘draw, drag, haul’. This would also in form give OE. træᵹelian. It is somewhat remarkable that while the earliest sense of both the
OF. and
MLG. words was ‘to tow (a boat)’, this specific use does not appear in
ME., while the chief
ME. uses do not appear on the continent. This detracts from the satisfactoriness of the derivation, which is still the best to which the known facts point:
cf. also
train v.
1, which similarly takes us back to L.
trahĕre,
*tragĕre with a different suffix.]
I. Primary senses. Transitive.
1. a. To draw behind one; to drag along upon the ground or other surface (
esp. something hanging loosely, as a long garment); also, to drag (a person) roughly, to hale; to haul.
| c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxvi. (Nycholas) 690 He hynt þe prioure be þe hare,..& traylyt hyme ful angrely Our al þe floure here & þare. a 1380 Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS. liii. 356 Þei trompe bifore þis traiturs, and traylen hem on tres Þorow-out þe Cite. c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon xx. 449 Ye shall see many knyghtes to traylle theyr bowelles thorughe the feeldes. 1530 Palsgr. 760/2 He was trayled upon a hardell thorowe al the towne, il fust trayné sur vne herce par toute la ville. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon cxxx. 475 Horses rynnynge abrode traylynge theyr brydels after them. 1623 in Foster Eng. Factories Ind. (1908) II. 231 A band of souldiers befor, marching with ther coulers trayled after. 1671 Milton Samson 1402 They shall not trail me through thir streets Like a wild Beast. 1712–14 Pope Rape Lock iii. 73 What boots..That long behind he trails his pompous robe? 1832 Tennyson Lady of Shalott i. iii, Slide the heavy barges trail'd By slow horses. 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. i. x, The gentleman has trailed his stick after him. |
b. To carry or convey by drawing or dragging, as in a vehicle or ship; sometimes said of something cumbrous figured as if dragged along,
= ‘drag’ used dyslogistically. Also
dial. to carry (dirt) on the feet into a house.
| c 1435 Torr. Portugal 1316 They Reysed a gale with a saylle, The Geaunt to lond for to traylle. 1748 H. Walpole Lett. to Mann (1834) II. 232 The yacht is not big enough to convey all the tables and chairs and conveniences that he trails along with him. a 1763 Shenstone Ballad vi, A coach with a coronet trail'd her to Tweed. 1863 Mrs. Toogood Yorks. Dial. (MS.), The childer trail a lot o' moock in t' house. 1887 Bowen æneid iii. 325, I, when our homes lay blazing, was trailed o'er sea. |
c. To draw (the body or limbs) along wearily or with difficulty in walking, etc.,
esp. from disablement or exhaustion. So
refl. to move along slowly and painfully, drag oneself along, crawl.
| 1562 Child-Marriages 138 He..demaundid a tieth goose..and she wold have gevin him none but one that haltid, and tralid the winge. 1566 Blundevil Horsemanship iv. cix. (1580) 50 b, The Horse will not lift that leg, but traile it nigh the ground. 1740 Somerville Hobbinol ii. 404 Her wounded Parts Grov'ling she [a snake] trails along. 1863 W. C. Baldwin Afr. Hunting ix. 413, I have no appetite, and trail my limbs after me as if they did not belong to me. 1908 Sir H. Maxwell Guide to Holyrood 108 He trailed himself, a broken-hearted man, to Falkland Palace. |
d. Phr.
to trail one's coat, to seek to pick a quarrel; to be provocative in one's conduct.
Cf. to drag his coat-tails,
so that some one may tread on them s.v. coat-tail.
| [1864: see trailer 1.] 1877 C. M. Yonge Womankind xxv. 216 Party spirit is equally ready to give offence and to watch for it. It will trail its coat like the Irishman in the fair. 1923 Daily Mail 7 Feb. 6 This risk [of war] is greatly increased by the presence of British troops at Constantinople and Chanak. Why should we thus be ‘trailing our coats’ before the Turks? 1950 D. Divine King of Fassarai xxxii. 291, I wouldn't put it in a report!.. I don't trail my coat. 1974 Times 4 Nov. 15/1 Nobody trails his coat for another election... There is to be no Commons division on the crisis in agriculture. 1980 J. Ditton Copley's Hunch i. ii. 35, I was trailing my coat... Trying to get the Luftwaffe to come up and fight. |
2. a. Mil. orig. To carry (a pike or similar weapon) in the right hand in an oblique position with the head forward and the butt nearly touching the ground; later
spec. to carry (a lance or rifle) in a horizontal position in the right hand with the arm fully extended downward (as in the British army), or in an oblique position, grasping it just above the balance with the arm extended downward and slightly bent (as in the
U.S. army). (Also, formerly, to carry (a pike) reversed, with the pointed head dragging along the ground, as at military funerals: see
quot. 1688.) Phr.
to trail a pike, to serve as a soldier (
arch.).
| 1549 Compl. Scot. vii. 70 The eldest of them vas in harnes, traland ane halbert behynd hym. 1565 Churchyard Chippes (1575) 58 b, And still I hoept, the warres wold me aduaunce So trayld the piek, and world began a nue. 1622 Fletcher & Massinger Span. Curate i. i, How proud..should I be To trail a pike under your brave command. 1688 R. Holme Armoury iii. xix. (Roxb.) 147/2 Trayle your pike, is to take it in the right hand vnder the head and hold it close to your side. In this posture they march. There is an other way of traileing the pike, which is by takeing the but end in the right hand holding it to the side, traileing or drawing the head after vpon the ground. In this posture they march at the funerall of a souldier. 1803 Regulations for Exercise of Riflemen 4 Trail Arms. The left hand seizes the rifle at the second pipe, the right close over the sight, and trails it on the right side at arm's length. 1825 Scott Talism. x, The soldiers wore the downcast..looks, with which they trail their arms at a funeral. 1833 Regul. Instr. Cavalry i. 161 The lance is ‘trailed’ by being carried in the right hand at the balance. 1870 Lowell Study Wind. 92 Ben Jonson..trailed a pike in the Low Countries. 1877 Man. Field Artillery Exerc. 62 Trail Arms. The Trail. Give the carbine a cant upwards with the right hand, seizing it close behind the back-sight, and bring it to a horizontal position at the full extent of the arm, fingers and thumb round the carbine. 1879 Martini-Henry Rifle Exerc. 13 Arms must never be trailed with fixed bayonets. |
† b. Hence allusively
to trail a pen, to write, to follow the occupation of a writer.
Obs. nonce-use.
| 1680 Dryden Cæsar Borgia Prol. 1 The unhappy man who once has trailed a pen Lives not to please himself, but other men. |
3. fig. or in
fig. context, with various implications:
e.g. to drag forcibly
to some course of action; to draw out, lengthen out in time, protract; to utter slowly, drawl; to ‘drag
in’ irrelevantly; to subject to dishonour, ‘drag in the dust’; to cause (a person) to accompany or follow one,
esp. reluctantly; etc.
| 1604 T. Wright Passions i. viii. 31 The sensitive appetite often..traleth and haleth the will to..follow her pleasures. 1648 Crashaw Music's Duel 37 [She] Trayles her plaine Ditty in one long-spun note. 1649 Bp. Hall Cases Consc. (1650) 396 As for Lyra, who is trayled in here, and cited. 1806 Wordsw. Ode Intim. Immort. v, Not in utter nakedness, But trailing clouds of glory do we come From God. 1806 G. Austin Chironomia i. 38 The words..should not be trailed nor drawled, nor let to slip out carelessly. 1874 Green Short Hist. viii. §3. 479 The policy which had so long trailed English honour at the chariot-wheels of Spain. 1891 E. & D. Gerard Sens. Plant III. iii. xii. 81 There really is no reason for trailing out the matter longer. 1914 W. Owen Let. 24 May (1967) 253 Tofield..is married, and trails a French wife about with him, from Berlitz School to Berlitz School. 1977 ‘D. Rutherford’ Return Load i. 21 Sally..trailing a reluctant Josie, was heading for the exit. |
b. To draw as by persuasion or art; to draw on; hence
colloq. ‘to quiz, befool’ (Farmer
Slang).
| a 1717 Parnell Fairy Tale 158 Then Will, who bears the wispy fire, To trail the swains among the mire. 1748 Richardson Clarissa (1811) VII. lxvii. 276, I [was] so long trailed on between hope and doubt. 1847 C. Brontë J. Eyre xvii, I..perceived she was (what is vernacularly termed) trailing Mrs. Dent; that is, playing on her ignorance: her trail might be clever, but it was decidedly not good-natured. 1900 C. Kernahan Scoundrels & Co. xxi, To see the Ishmaelites ‘trail’ a sufferer from ‘swelled head’ is to undergo inoculation against that fell malady. |
4. To give advance notice of (a radio or television programme). Also
transf. Cf. trail n.1 11,
trailer n. 4 b.
| 1941 B.B.C. Gloss. Broadcasting Terms 33 Trail (v. trans.), to draw the attention of listeners to a forthcoming programme or other event of broadcasting importance by means of announcements, recorded excerpts, or other methods calculated to make it widely known. 1942 ‘G. Orwell’ Diary 14 Aug. in Coll. Essays (1968) II. 443 Horrabin was broadcasting today... This had been extensively trailed and advertised beforehand. 1960 Guardian 8 Nov. 7/2 It remains to me an object of mystery..why the BBC trailed this programme..as unsuitable for young people. 1976 Daily Tel. 20 Dec. 8 Powell blamed newspapers for having ignored his embargo—journalists usually receive copies of his speeches a day or two beforehand—but for years his speeches have been ‘trailed’ without complaint. 1978 Times 7 Aug. 12/5 At least by trailing their message on the envelope the senders have..reduced wear on my paper knife. 1980 Musicians Only 26 Apr. 11/5 Released to trail a three album blockbuster. |
II. Intransitive senses.
(But for the doubtful
OE. træᵹlian, these form the earliest group in
Eng. and
perh. ought to be branch I.)
5. a. (
intr. for pass. of 1.) To hang down so as to drag along the ground or other surface; to be drawn loosely behind (by a person, animal, or thing in motion).
| 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 3444 What sey ȝe men of ladyys pryde Þat gone traylyng ouer syde:..To soule helpe hyt myȝt do bote, Þat trayleþ lowe vndyr þe fote. c 1400 Destr. Troy 10358 Þat so worshipfull a wegh, as þe wight Troilus..Shuld traile as a traytor by the taile of his horse. c 1450 Merlin xiv. 211 Ther sholde ye se stedes and horse renne Maisterles, their reynes trailynge vndir fote. 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §141 That it [a gate] do not trayle and that the wyndes blowe it not open. 1633 P. Fletcher Purple Isl. xii. xvi, His hanging dewlap trail'd along the golden sand. 1823 Local Act 4 Geo. IV, c. ii. §98 If any Person..suffer any Timber..carried..upon wheel Carriages, to drag or trail upon the said Bridge or Roads. 1868–70 Morris Earthly Par. I. ii. 620 The sound Of silken dresses trailing o'er the ground. |
b. Mil. (
intr. for pass. of 2).
| 1677 Lond. Gaz. No. 1181/2 Amsterdam, March 19. Yesterday was performed the Funerals of the late Lieutenant Admiral de Ruyter, the proceeding was thus: 1. Marched two Companies of Soldiers, their Pikes trailing. |
6. To hang down or float loosely from its attachment, as dress, hair, etc.; of a plant: to grow decumbently and stragglingly to a considerable length, so as to rest upon the ground or other support, as a stem or branch of a plant; to ‘creep’.
| c 1412 Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 466 What help schal he, Wos sleeues encombrous so syde traille, Do to his lord? 1578 Lyte Dodoens i. vii. 13 It hath..small braunches..creping or trayling alongst the ground. 1591 Spenser Ruines of Time ii, Her yeolow locks,..About her shoulders careleslie downe trailing. 1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. ii. 94 They cover this Table with a large pinked Carpet, which on all sides trails on the ground. 1776 Withering Brit. Plants (1796) III. 541 In open sunny situations it [Prunella] grows trailing,..but in woods it is upright. 1845 Ford Handbk. Spain i. 52 The Spanish horse's tail often trails to the very ground. |
7. a. † To walk with long trailing garments (
obs.); to drag one's limbs, walk slowly or wearily as if dragged along (often, following some person or thing:
cf. 5); to move or go in extended order; to creep, crawl, as a serpent or other reptile.
| 1303 [see 5]. 13.. Metr. Hom. (Vernon MS.) in Herrig Archiv LVII. 303 Ich [the devil] haue longe i-ben Þi lord and mad þe traile and [? in] gren In siclatoun and in scarlet. a 1400 Sir Penny 29 in Map's Poems (Camden) 360 He may ger tham trayl syde In gude skarlet and grene. 1513 Douglas æneis v. Prol. 11 Wantoun gallandis to traill in sumptuus wedis. 1608 Topsell Serpents (1658) 732 Like the Horned-serpent, so trails this elf on land. 1768 Goldsm. Good-n. Man i. i, Nothing diverts me more than one of those fine old dressy things..trailing through a minuet at Almack's. 1864 Lowell Fireside Trav. 106 We trailed along, at the rate of four miles an hour. 1868 Kinglake Crimea (1877) III. i. 83 The cavalcade which had trailed in his wake. 1905 Sir F. Treves Other Side Lantern ii. vii. (1906) 73 The camels that trailed away from the city. |
b. Of inanimate things: To move along slowly; to drift, glide, or flow slowly (
obs.); sometimes, to move in the wake of something as if drawn along by it; to form a trail.
| 1470–85 Malory Arthur vii. xxxiv. 267 They..drewe their swerdes, and gafe grete strokes that the blood trayled to the ground. 1650 Fuller Pisgah iv. iii. 48 The water issuing thence trailed after them in all their removealls. 1754 J. Love Cricket i. 41 The dull Ball trails before the feeble Mace. 1822–34 Good's Study Med. (ed. 4) II. 68 Vesicular Erythema:..surface..covered with..minute vesicles..progressively trailing into the neighbouring sound parts. 1851 Longfellow Gold. Leg. iv. Neighboring Nunnery 59 Through the momentary gloom Of shadows o'er the landscape trailing. |
c. Also with
in.
U.S.| 1875 Fur, Fin & Feather (ed. 3) 112 Light and drink; drop off and trail in. 1907 S. E. White Arizona Nights xvi. 234 With exultant cackles of joy they'd trail in, reachin' out like quarter-horses. |
8. a. To extend in a straggling line, to straggle.
| 1600 Hakluyt Voy. III. 615 Cape Roxo is a low Cape and trayling to the sea-ward. 1905 J. B. Firth Highways Derbyshire vii. 98 The path..sometimes trails across the meadows. |
b. trail off (
fig.): to ‘go off’ in a careless, casual, or indefinite way
into something; to tail off.
| 1845 Dickens Cricket on Hearth iii, The soft-hearted Slowboy trailed off at this juncture into such a deplorable howl..that [etc.]. 1865 ― Mut. Fr. ii. xvi, Twemlow..trails off into ‘—actly so’. 1967 W. Styron Confessions of Nat Turner I. 32, I heard Hark's voice trail off in something like a stifled laugh, a gurgle of satisfaction. 1982 Times 16 June 17/1 The export expansion should trail off substantially this year. |
III. Secondary senses,
app. from
trail n.1 2, 8–9.
9. trans. To decorate or cover with a trailing pattern or ornament; to adorn in the style of tracery. Const.
with.
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 1473 Penitotes, & pynkardines, ay perles bitwene, So trayled & tryfled a traverce wer alle. 1399 Langl. Rich. Redeles i. 47 Ypoudride wyth pete þer it be ouȝte, And traylid with trouþe, and treste al aboute. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 499/1 Traylyn, a(s) cloþys, segmento,..sirino [? sirmo]. 15.. Househ. Bk. Earl Northumbld. (1770) Notes 441, iiij Copes blew Sylk with red Orferes trayled with whitt Braunchis and Flowres. 1596 Spenser F.Q. v. v. 2 A Camis light of purple silke..Trayled with ribbands. 1870 Rock Text. Fabr. Introd. i. 76 The golden ground is trailed all over with leaf-bearing boughs. |
10. a. To follow the trail or track of, to track. Also in
gen. use, to follow.
| 1590 Cokaine Treat. Hunting D ij b, An otter sometimes wilbe trayled a mile or two before he come to the holt where he lyeth. 1781 P. Beckford Hunting (1802) 150 Seeing the hare trailed to her form. 1788 Gentl. Mag. LVIII. i. 74/2 General Clarke..after trailing them upon several tracks, at last came up with them. 1880 Harting Brit. Anim. Extinct i. 18 In later times the Bear was trailed with boar-hounds. 1910 Contemp. Rev. July 33 The ranch⁓man is away..trailing horse thieves. 1915 H. L. Wilson Ruggles of Red Gap (1917) iv. 79 Think of those two poor fellows trailing you over Paris yesterday trying to save you from yourself. 1925 H. L. Foster Trop. Tramp Tourists 70 We trailed the other steamer. We trailed her through the Boca Chica... We trailed her past the little forts. 1945 B. MacDonald Egg & I (1946) xxiii. 228 Sport and the puppy trailed me everywhere, whining and begging me to explain the smoke and excitement. 1957 ‘R. Farre’ Seal Morning ii. 16 No sooner was she past infancy than Lora [sc. a seal] started to waddle after me round the croft and trail me over to the byre. |
b. To lag behind (someone or something), in a contest, comparison, etc. Also
intr.| 1957 Times 6 Sept. 13/2 Hansen's best work came after he had trailed for the first four rounds. 1961 Wall St. Jrnl. 24 Mar. 1/1 The value of contracts for residential building awarded last month trailed February, 1960, by 12%. 1972 Guardian 10 Aug. 2/3 The Harris Poll today shows that Senator McGovern now trails President Nixon by 23 points. 1979 Sci. Amer. Nov. 56/1 Diabetes mellitus and its complications are now thought to be the third leading cause of death in the U.S., trailing only cardiovascular disease and cancer. 1980 Times 3 Nov. 2/1 Most MPs seem to expect Mr Silkin to come third with between 30 to 40 votes and Mr Shore to trail with between 20 and 30. 1983 Times 19 Feb. 8/4 A few months ago..she was trailing Mr Daley. |
11. a. To mark out (a trail or track); to trace out.
| c 1586 C'tess Pembroke Ps. lix. xiii, Abroad they range and hunt apace, Now that, now this, As famine trailes a hungry trace. 1600 Hakluyt Voy. (1810) III. 546 By reason there met many wayes traled by the wild beastes, I lost my way. 1891 tr. Didon's Christ I. 410 The way of the Kingdom..is a way trailed with blood. |
b. To make trails or tracks in; to make one's way through; see also
quot. 1828 (
U.S.).
| 1652 Benlowes Theoph. xiii. xxvii, The Larks, wing'd travellers, that trail the skie. 1828 Webster, Trail... In America, to tread down grass by walking through; to lay flat; as, to trail grass. |
12. intr. To follow the trail or track of the game.
| 1741 Compl. Fam.-Piece ii. i. 306 They will come Trailing along by the River Side. 1810 Sporting Mag. XXXV. 194 Mr. Yeatman's hare beagles trailed up to a hare in Pulham Furze. 1880 Shorthouse J. Inglesant ii. 41 The hounds came trailing and chanting along by the river side. |
IV. 13. intr. To fish by trailing a bait from a moving boat;
spec. to fish from a trailer (see
trailer n. 8).
| 1857 R. Tomes Amer. in Japan xiii. 308 Another cluster of fishing-boats..apparently trailing for fish. 1864 Thoreau Maine W. iii. 176 My companion trailed for trout as we paddled along. |
14. Billiards. (See
trailing vbl. n. 1 c.)
15. Cards. At casino, To play a card that is useless for gaining a point. (Perh.
fig. from 7.)
| 1909 in Cent. Dict. Supp. |
16. trans. Bowls. To force (the jack) further up the green with one's bowl.
| 1908 J. M. Pretsell Game of Bowls xi. 194 If a bowl trail the jack through between, and past the line square to the back of, the stationary bowls, it shall score 3. 1923 J. A. Manson Bowling 84 The Bowler is required to trail the jack, his own bowl accompanying or ‘hugging’ it, between the stationary bowls over both of the horizontal lines. 1975 Oxf. Compan. Sports & Games 97/2 Occasionally a bowler delivers a bowl which runs on to the jack and stays with it while pushing it a foot or so farther up the green. Basically this is a draw shot delivered with a marginal increase of strength with the object of trailing the jack to a more advantageous position. |
Add:
[I.] [1.] e. To transport (a boat, etc.) on a trailer;
= trailer v. 1 b.
| 1977 Mod. Boating (Austral.) Jan. 21/2 Such small craft will need to be trailed rather than sailed to regatta venues. 1988 Motorboats Monthly Oct. 32/3 Damage to the boat is covered while it is being trailed, but you should still advise your car insurer that you occasionally tow boats. |
[III.] [10.] c. U.S. To drive or herd (livestock) along a trail. Also
absol.| 1906 N.Y. Even. Post 27 Oct. (Saturday Suppl.) 1/6, I determined to have the sheep ‘trailed through’ to Nebraska, which, in Western parlance, means driving them overland. 1910 Pacific Monthly Feb. 143/1 Legally the sheepman trails where it pleases him. 1948 Sierra Club Bull. (San Francisco) Feb. 14/2 The privilege of trailing cattle across the monument still exists as always. 1974 New Yorker 29 Apr. 83/2 In the nineteen-twenties..Bill's father and other traders would make up a great herd of animals and drive them—‘trail them’ for six months..: ‘trail down plumb through the southern part of Arkansas [etc.]’. 1986 T. McGuane To skin Cat 156 There was one little band of cattle trailed by a cowboy. |
▪ V. † trail, v.2 Obs. [a. OF. treillier to trellis, interweave, from treille trail n.2] trans. To provide with or train upon a trellis.
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvii. clxxviii. (Bodl. MS.), Vines nedeþ to be trailed to be þe better susteyned. |