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Webster's Dictionary (1865)

3 entries under this word

Trail

Trāil, v. t.

verbtransitive

v. t. [imp. & p. p. TRAILED; p. pr. & vb. n. TRAILING.] [Norm. Fr. trailler, to search after, O. Fr. trailler, to trail a deer or hunt him upon a cold scent, also to hunt or pursue him with a lime-hound, Fr. trailler, tirailler, to trail a fishing-line, Pg. tralha, tralho, a rope, a small fishing-net, tralhar, to marl the sail to the bolt-rope, Sp. traillar, to level the ground, trailla, a leash, an instrument for leveling the ground, D. trekken, to draw with a rope, to tow, treil, a rope for drawing a boat. Cf. DRAIL.]

  1. To hunt by the track. Halliwell.
  2. To draw along the ground, “And hung his head, and trailed his legs along.” Dryden.

They shall not trail me through the streets Like a wild beast. Milton. Long behind he trails his pompous robe. Pope.

  1. (Mil.) To carry, as a fire-arm, with the breech near the ground and the upper part inclined forward, the piece being held by the right hand near the middle.
  2. To tread down, or lay flat, as grass, by walking through; to lay flat.
  3. To take advantage of the ignorance of; to impose upon. [Prov. Eng.]

I presently perceived she was (what is vernacularly termed) trailing Mrs. Dent; that is, playing on her ignorance. C. Bronte.

Trāil, v. i.

verbintransitive

v. i. 1. To be drawn out in length. “When his brother saw the red blood trail.” Spencer. 2. To grow to great length, especially when slender and creeping upon the ground, as a plant; to run or climb.

Trāil, n.

noun

n. 1. Track followed by the hunter; scent left on the ground by the animal pursued.

How cheerfully on the false trail they cry! Shak.

Sense 2. Any thing drawn to length; as, the trail of a meteor; a trail of smoke. “When lightning shoots in glittering trails along.” Rowe.

Sense 3. Any thing drawn behind in long undulations; a train. “And drew behind a radiant trail of hair.” Pope.

Sense 4. Any thing drawn along, as a vehicle. [Obs.]

Sense 5. A kind of frame for trailing plants. [Obs.]

Sense 6. The entrails of a fowl, especially of game, as the woodcock, and the like;—applied also, sometimes, to the entrails of sheep.

The woodcock is a favorite with epicures, and served with its trail in, is a delicious dish. Baird.

Sense 7. (Mil.) That part of the stock of a gun-carriage which rests on the ground when the piece is unlimbered. [See Illust. of Gun-carriage.]

Sense 8. The act of taking advantage of the ignorance of a person; an imposition. [Prov. Eng.]