GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English
last match results
Found 2 definitions
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Trail (trāl), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Trailed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Trailing.] [OE. trailen, OF. trailler to trail a deer, or hunt him upon a cold scent, also, to hunt or pursue him with a limehound, F. trailler to trail a fishing line; probably from a derivative of L. trahere to draw; cf. L. traha a drag, sledge, tragula a kind of drag net, a small sledge, Sp. trailla a leash, an instrument for leveling the ground, D. treilen to draw with a rope, to tow, treil a rope for drawing a boat. See Trace, v. t.]
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1. (a) To hunt by the track; to track. (b) to follow behind. (c) To pursue. Halliwell.
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2. To draw or drag, as along the ground.
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And hung his head, and trailed his legs along. Dryden.
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They shall not trail me through their streets
Like a wild beast. Milton.
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Long behind he trails his pompous robe. Pope.
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3. (Mil.) To carry, as a firearm, with the breech near the ground and the upper part inclined forward, the piece being held by the right hand near the middle.
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4. To tread down, as grass, by walking through it; to lay flat. Longfellow.
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5. To take advantage of the ignorance of; to impose upon. [Prov. Eng.]
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I presently perceived she was (what is vernacularly termed) trailing Mrs. Dent; that is, playing on her ignorance. C. Bronte.
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Trailing, a. & vb. n. from Trail.
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Trailing arbutus. (Bot.) See under Arbutus. -- Trailing spring, a spring fixed in the axle box of the trailing wheels of a locomotive engine, and so placed as to assist in deadening any shock which may occur. Weale. -- Trailing wheel, a hind wheel of a locomotive when it is not a driving wheel; also, one of the hind wheels of a carriage.
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