trail
part of speech
noun (a trail, trails); verb (trail, trails, trailed, trailing)
meaning for a pupil
1) A trail is a path through the countryside, a forest or mountains. tree →
2) A trail is a line of marks or signs left by someone or something, like footprints. tree →
3) To trail is to follow behind someone, or to drag along the ground behind. tree →
4) To trail in a game is to be losing. tree →
sense in the lessons
In the Tanakh and Jewish tradition: In the Song of Songs the verb describes goats' dark hair flowing down the slopes of Gilead, a picture of beautiful hair. Interpretation: The Song is read by tradition as a love song between God and Israel. The lover's praise of the beloved's hair is explained as praise of the people's good deeds. In the primary lessons: In hiking and outdoor safety, stay on the trail, follow trail markers, and tell an adult your route. In science, animals leave trails (snail slime, footprints) that help us find them. In stories, a detective follows a trail of clues. In sport, a team trailing by two points is behind. Phrases: nature trail, hiking trail, on the trail of, a trail of crumbs, trail behind.
examples
- Thy hair is as a flock of goats, that trail down from Gilead. (Writings SNG.6.5, JPS 1917) tree →
- Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thine eyes are as doves behind thy veil; thy hair is as a flock of goats, that trail down from mount Gilead. (Writings SNG.4.1, JPS 1917) tree →
- We walked the nature trail around the lake. tree →
- The snail left a shiny trail. tree →
- Stay on the trail so you don't get lost. tree →
- The detective followed a trail of clues. tree →
- Her long scarf trailed on the ground. tree →
- Our team was trailing by three goals at half time. tree →
- Hansel and Gretel left a trail of crumbs. tree →
- Some carried their tails over their arms, while others trailed them proudly along. tree →
note
Countable: one trail, two trails. Do not confuse trail with "trial" (a test or a court case) — the letters are in a different order. "Trailing" in a game means behind; the gap tells you how many points the team needs.
In the corpora
- Thy hair is as a flock of goats, that trail down from Gilead.
- Seal whiskers are so sensitive that a blindfolded seal followed a fish's water trail that was more than 30 seconds old.
- Ants follow scent trails laid by other ants; a line of ants is made by feet and smell, not by a leader.
- Drifting along, the Mole trails a paw in the water and dreams.
- Staying on the trail keeps you from getting lost and protects the plants.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «trail» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.