- [countable, uncountable] a mark, an object or a sign that shows that somebody/something existed or was present
- It's exciting to discover traces of earlier civilizations.
- Police searched the area but found no trace of the escaped prisoners.
- Years of living in England had eliminated all trace of her American accent.
- without (a) trace The ship had vanished without (a) trace.
Extra Examples- Little trace is left of how Stone Age people lived.
- The burglar had left several traces of his presence.
- Traces still remain of the long-defunct Surrey Iron Railway.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- archaeological
- historical
- indelible
- …
- leave
- bear
- reveal
- …
- remain
- with a trace of something
- without a trace of something
- without trace
- …
- [countable] trace of something a very small amount of something
- The post-mortem revealed traces of poison in his stomach.
- She spoke without a trace of bitterness.
Extra Examples- The police found traces of blood in the bathroom.
- The water was found to contain traces of cocaine.
- Remove all traces of rust with a small wire brush.
- There was no trace of humour in his expression.
- There was not the faintest trace of irony in her voice.
- There was no trace of a smile on his face.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- discernible
- faint
- minute
- …
- contain
- detect
- find
- …
- amount
- element
- gas
- …
- trace of
- [countable] (specialist) a line or pattern on paper or a screen that shows information that is found by a machine
- The trace showed a normal heart rhythm.
- [countable] trace on somebody/something a search to find out information about the identity of somebody/something, especially what number a phone call was made from
- The police ran a trace on the call.
- Detectives are doing a trace on the vehicle.
- [countable, usually plural] one of the two long pieces of leather that fasten a carriage or cart to the horse that pulls it
Word Originnoun senses 1 to 3 Middle English (first recorded as a noun in the sense ‘path that someone or something takes’): from Old French trace (noun), tracier (verb), based on Latin tractus ‘drawing, draught’, from trahere ‘draw, pull’. noun sense 4 Middle English (denoting a pair of traces): from Old French trais, plural of trait, from Latin tractus ‘drawing, draught’, from trahere ‘draw, pull’.
Idioms
See trace in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee trace in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishkick over the traces
- (British English, old-fashioned) to start to behave badly and refuse to accept any discipline or control
Check pronunciation:
trace