# trail

> English word · Verb · IPA /tɹeɪl/ · frequency rank #3,341

## Definitions
1. To follow behind (someone or something); to tail (someone or something).
2. To drag (something) behind on the ground.
3. To leave (a trail of).
4. To show a trailer of (a film, TV show etc.); to release or publish a preview of (a report etc.) in advance of the full publication.
5. To hang or drag loosely behind; to move with a slow sweeping motion.
6. To run or climb like certain plants.
7. To drag oneself lazily or reluctantly along.
8. To be losing, to be behind in a competition.
9. To carry (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.
10. To create a trail in.
11. To travel by following or creating trails.
12. To transport (livestock) by herding it along a trail.
13. To take advantage of the ignorance of; to impose upon.

## Etymology
From Middle English trailen, from Old French trailler (“to tow; pick up the scent of a quarry”), from Vulgar Latin *tragulāre (“to drag”), from Latin tragula (“dragnet, javelin thrown by a strap”), probably related to Latin trahere (“to pull, drag along”).

## Easily confused with
- **tri** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/trail-vs-tri)
- **trip** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/trail-vs-trip)
- **trap** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/trail-vs-trap)
- **trio** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/trail-vs-trio)
- **trim** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/trail-vs-trim)
- **tray** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/trail-vs-tray)
- **tram** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/trail-vs-tram)
- **Tran** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/trail-vs-tran)
- **tris** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/trail-vs-tris)
- **Tsai** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/trail-vs-tsai)
- **trig** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/trail-vs-trig)
- **Trav** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/trail-vs-trav)
- **train** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/trail-vs-train)
- **trial** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/trail-vs-trial)
- **trash** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/trail-vs-trash)
- **trans** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/trail-vs-trans)
- **traps** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/trail-vs-traps)
- **troll** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/trail-vs-troll)
- **trait** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/trail-vs-trait)
- **twain** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/trail-vs-twain)

## Common misspellings (6)
`rtail`, `taril`, `traill`, `trali`, `trrail`, `ttrail`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/trail