i Register
In some senses, trace is marked as obsolete, colloquial. Watch for register when choosing this word.
ADJ
archaeological, historical | indelible, permanent
memory
I found only a faint trace of memory from my childhood visit to that old house.
VERB + TRACE
leave
The old footprints left traces in the mud that helped the detective solve the case.
bear, reveal, show
discover, find
The detective discovered a trace of fingerprints on the stolen painting.
obliterate, remove
The cleaning company obliterated every trace of the accident before the new tenants arrived.
disappear/sink/vanish without
After the storm, the small boat vanished without trace, leaving the coast guard puzzled.
TRACE + VERB
remain
After the fire, only faint traces of paint remained on the old wooden door.
PREP
with/without a ~ of sth
He smiled without a trace of doubt, confident that everything would work out fine.
without ~
The old letter disappeared without a trace, and we never found out where it went.
ADJ
discernible, faint, minute, slight, small, tiny
After years of rain, only a tiny trace of the old paint remained on the wooden fence.
unmistakable
VERB + TRACE
contain
The old painting appeared to contain traces of an earlier design underneath.
detect, find
TRACE + NOUN
amount
element, gas, metal, mineral
Scientists detected trace amounts of lead in the old paint samples.
PREP
~ of
There was just a trace of sadness in her voice when she talked about leaving home.
ADV
successfully
VERB + TRACE
be able/unable to, can
Detectives couldn't trace where the stolen paintings had been hidden for so many years.
attempt to, try to | help (to) | fail to | be difficult to | be possible to
PREP
to
The detective was able to trace the anonymous letter back to the suspect's office.
ADV
carefully
easily
The origins of that old family recipe could not be easily traced back through the generations.
directly | historically | back
VERB + TRACE
can | attempt to, try to
be difficult to
It was difficult to trace the package after it left the warehouse.
be possible to
PREP
to
We can trace the origins of pizza to Naples in southern Italy.
ADV
lightly
PREP
with
He traced the map with a pen to mark the route to the airport.