TRACE


Meaning of TRACE in English

I.

noun

1 mark/sign that shows sb/sth happened/existed

ADJECTIVE

▪ archaeological , historical

▪ indelible , permanent

▪ memory ( technical )

VERB + TRACE

▪ leave

The burglar had left several ~s of his presence.

Little ~ is left of how Stone Age people lived.

▪ bear , reveal , show

▪ discover , find

The search party had found no ~ of the missing climbers.

▪ erase , obliterate , remove

Remove all ~s of rust with a small wire brush.

TRACE + VERB

▪ remain

Traces still remain of the old brewery.

PREPOSITION

▪ with a ~ of sth , without a ~ of sth

‘No thanks,’ she said, with a ~ of irritation in her voice.

▪ without ~ ( BrE ), without a ~

The plane was lost without a ~ over the Atlantic.

The ship seems to have sunk without ~.

2 very small amount of sth

ADJECTIVE

▪ discernible ( esp. BrE ), faint , minute , slight , small , tiny

There was not the faintest ~ of irony in her voice.

▪ unmistakable

VERB + TRACE

▪ contain

The water was found to contain ~s of cocaine.

▪ detect , find

TRACE + NOUN

▪ amount

▪ element , gas , metal , mineral

Seaweed is rich in vitamins and ~ elements.

PREPOSITION

▪ ~ of

a ~ of amusement/anxiety/a smile

II.

verb

1 find out where sth is/where it comes from

ADVERB

▪ successfully

VERB + TRACE

▪ be able to , be unable to , can

Police have been unable to ~ her movements during her final days.

▪ attempt to , try to

▪ help (to)

▪ fail to

▪ be difficult to

▪ be possible to

PREPOSITION

▪ to

The stolen paintings have been successfully ~d to a London warehouse.

2 find/describe the cause/origin of sth

ADVERB

▪ carefully

▪ easily

Words have over the centuries acquired meanings not easily ~d in dictionaries.

▪ directly

▪ back

VERB + TRACE

▪ can

▪ attempt to , try to

▪ be difficult to

The origins of the custom are difficult to ~.

▪ be possible to

PREPOSITION

▪ to

The book ~s the history of the game back to an incident in 1863.

3 mark where the line of sth is with a thin object

ADVERB

▪ gently , lightly

▪ slowly

PREPOSITION

▪ with

She lightly ~d the outline of his face with her finger.

Trace is used with these nouns as the subject: ↑ exhibition

Trace is used with these nouns as the object: ↑ ancestor , ↑ ancestry , ↑ arc , ↑ beginning , ↑ call , ↑ circle , ↑ connection , ↑ descent , ↑ design , ↑ development , ↑ emergence , ↑ evolution , ↑ finger , ↑ heritage , ↑ history , ↑ influence , ↑ movement , ↑ origin , ↑ outline , ↑ owner , ↑ path , ↑ pattern , ↑ progress , ↑ relative , ↑ root , ↑ route , ↑ shape , ↑ thread , ↑ witness

Oxford Collocations English Dictionary.      Оксфордский английский словарь словосочетаний .