trace

/tɹeɪs/
noun 5verb 5adj 1name 1

Collocations

38
1

(noun.) mark/sign that shows sb/sth happened/existed

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.

2

(noun.) very small amount of sth

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.

3

(verb.) find out where sth is/where it comes from

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.

4

(verb.) find/describe the cause/origin of sth

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.

5

(verb.) mark where the line of sth is with a thin object

ADV

lightly

PREP

with

He traced the map with a pen to mark the route to the airport.

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