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