(trās) noun
1. A vestige or mark left by some past event or agent, especially when regarded as a sign or clue.
2. A barely detectable quantity, quality, token, or characteristic; touch.
3. Chem. A proportion or ingredient too small to be weighed (often abbreviated tr.): a trace of soda.
3. An imprint or mark indicating the passage of a person or thing, as a footprint, etc.
4. A path or trail through woods or forest beaten down by men or animals.
5. A lightly drawn line; something traced.
6. The point or line on a map or on the ground indicating the position of a trench, an aircraft flight path, etc.
7. The path of a tracer bullet.
8. Psychol. An engram.
—v. traced, trac·ing v.t.
1. To follow the tracks, course, or development of.
2. To follow (tracks, a course of development, etc.).
3. To discover or ascertain by examination or investigation; find out or determine.
4. To draw; sketch.
5. To copy (a drawing, etc.) on a superimposed transparent sheet.
6. To form (letters, etc.) with careful strokes.
7. To mark with an impressed design; chase.
8. To imprint (a pattern or design).
9. To mark or record by a curved or broken line.
10. To go or move over, along, or through.
—v.i.
11. To make one's way; proceed.
12. To have its origin; go back in time. [<OF tracier, ult. <L tractus a dragging, a track <trahere draw]
—trace′a·ble adjective
—trace′a·bil′i·ty, trace′a·ble·ness noun
—trace′a·bly adverb
—trace′·less adjective Synonyms (noun): footmark, footprint, footstep, mark, memorial, remains, remnant, sign, token, track, vestige. A vestige is always slight compared with that whose existence it recalls; as, Scattered mounds containing human implements are vestiges of a former civilization. A vestige is always a part of that which has passed away; a trace may be merely the mark it has made, or some slight evidence of its presence or of the effect it has produced; as, Traces of game were observed by the hunter. See CHARACTERISTIC, MARK¹.

(trās) noun
1. One of two side straps or chains for connecting the collar of a harness with the swingletree.
2. Mech. A link or connecting bar hinged at each end to other pieces of a mechanism, to transmit motion from one part to another.
—to kick over the traces To throw off control; become unmanageable.
—v.t. traced, trac·ing To fasten, as with traces. [<OF traiz, trais, plural of trait a dragging, a leather harness <L tractus. See TRACE¹.]