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Trace (?), n. [F. trais. pl. of trait. See Trait.]
1. One of two straps, chains, or ropes of a harness, extending from the collar or breastplate to a whiffletree attached to a vehicle or thing to be drawn; a tug.
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2. (Mech.) A connecting bar or rod, pivoted at each end to the end of another piece, for transmitting motion, esp. from one plane to another; specif., such a piece in an organ-stop action to transmit motion from the trundle to the lever actuating the stop slider.
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Trace, n. [F. trace. See Trace, v. t. ]
1. A mark left by anything passing; a track; a path; a course; a footprint; a vestige; as, “the trace of a carriage or sled; the trace of a deer; a sinuous trace”. Milton.
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2. (Chem. & Min.) A very small quantity of an element or compound in a given substance, especially when so small that the amount is not quantitatively determined in an analysis; -- hence, in stating an analysis, often contracted to tr.
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3. A mark, impression, or visible appearance of anything left when the thing itself no longer exists; remains; token; vestige.
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The shady empire shall retain no trace
Of war or blood, but in the sylvan chase. Pope.
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4. (Descriptive Geom. & Persp.) The intersection of a plane of projection, or an original plane, with a coordinate plane.
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5. (Fort.) The ground plan of a work or works.
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Syn.-Vestige; mark; token. See Vestige.
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Trace, v. t. [imp. & p. p. traced (?); p. pr. & vb. n. tracing.] [OF. tracier, F. tracer, from (assumed) LL. tractiare, fr.L. tractus, p. p. of trahere to draw. Cf. Abstract, Attract, Contract, Portratt, Tract, Trail, Train, Treat. ]
1. To mark out; to draw or delineate with marks; especially, to copy, as a drawing or engraving, by following the lines and marking them on a sheet superimposed, through which they appear; as, “to trace a figure or an outline; a traced drawing”.
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Some faintly traced features or outline of the mother and the child, slowly lading into the twilight of the woods. Hawthorne.
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2. To follow by some mark that has been left by a person or thing which has preceded; to follow by footsteps, tracks, or tokens. Cowper.
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You may trace the deluge quite round the globe. T. Burnet.
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I feel thy power . . . to trace the ways
Of highest agents. Milton.
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3. Hence, to follow the trace or track of.
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How all the way the prince on footpace traced. Spenser.
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4. To copy; to imitate.
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That servile path thou nobly dost decline,
Of tracing word, and line by line. Denham.
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5. To walk over; to pass through; to traverse.
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We do tracethis alley up and down. Shak.
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Trace, v. i. To walk; to go; to travel. [Obs.]
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Not wont on foot with heavy arms to trace. Spenser.
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