{
    "term": "trace",
    "partOfSpeech": "verb",
    "academic": true,
    "ox5000": true,
    "cefr": "b2",
    "verbForms": {
        "presentSimple": {
            "iYouWeThey": "trace",
            "heSheIt": "traces"
        },
        "pastSimple": "traced",
        "pastParticiple": "traced",
        "ingForm": "tracing"
    },
    "definitions": [
        {
            "senseNumber": 1,
            "definition": "to find or discover somebody/something by looking carefully for them/it",
            "sensetop": "trace somebody/something (to something)",
            "cefr": "b2",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "We finally traced him to an address in Chicago."
                },
                {
                    "text": "I have been unable to trace the letter you mentioned."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The stolen paintings have been successfully traced to a London warehouse."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Police are anxious to trace the owners of a car parked near the scene."
                }
            ],
            "synonyms": "track down",
            "topics": ["Crime and punishment"],
            "collocations": {
                "adverb": ["successfully"],
                "verb + trace": ["be able to", "be unable to", "can"],
                "preposition": ["to"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 2,
            "definition": "to find the origin or cause of something",
            "sensetop": "trace something (back) (to something)",
            "cefr": "b2",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "She could trace her family tree back to the 16th century."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The leak was eventually traced to a broken seal."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The police traced the call *(= used special electronic equipment to find out who made the phone call)* to her ex-husband's number."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The origins of the custom are difficult to trace."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Words have over the centuries acquired meanings not easily traced in dictionaries."
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["Phones, email and the internet", "Family and relationships"],
            "collocations": {
                "adverb": ["carefully", "easily", "directly"],
                "verb + trace": ["can", "attempt to", "try to"],
                "preposition": ["to"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 3,
            "definition": "to describe a process or the development of something",
            "sensetop": "trace something (from something) (to something)",
            "cefr": "c1",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "Her book traces the town's history from Saxon times to the present day."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 4,
            "definition": "to draw a line or lines on a surface",
            "sensetop": "trace something (out)",
            "cefr": "c1",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "She traced a line in the sand."
                }
            ],
            "collocations": {
                "adverb": ["gently", "lightly", "slowly"],
                "preposition": ["with"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 5,
            "definition": "to follow the shape or outline of something",
            "sensetop": "trace something",
            "cefr": "c1",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "He traced the route on the map."
                },
                {
                    "text": "A tear traced a path down her cheek."
                },
                {
                    "text": "She lightly traced the outline of his face with her finger."
                }
            ],
            "collocations": {
                "adverb": ["gently", "lightly", "slowly"],
                "preposition": ["with"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 6,
            "definition": "to copy a map, drawing, etc. by drawing on tracing paper (= paper that you can see through) placed over it",
            "sensetop": "trace something",
            "examples": [],
            "collocations": {
                "adverb": ["gently", "lightly", "slowly"],
                "preposition": ["with"]
            }
        }
    ],
    "pronunciations": {
        "uk": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/treɪs/",
                "audio": "tr/trace/trace__gb_2.mp3"
            },
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ˈtreɪsɪz/",
                "audio": "tr/trace/traces__gb_1.mp3"
            },
            {
                "pronunciation": "/treɪst/",
                "audio": "tr/trace/traced__gb_1.mp3"
            },
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ˈtreɪsɪŋ/",
                "audio": "tr/trace/tracing__gb_2.mp3"
            }
        ],
        "us": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/treɪs/",
                "audio": "tr/trace/trace__us_1.mp3"
            },
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ˈtreɪsɪz/",
                "audio": "tr/trace/traces__us_1.mp3"
            },
            {
                "pronunciation": "/treɪst/",
                "audio": "tr/trace/traced__us_1.mp3"
            },
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ˈtreɪsɪŋ/",
                "audio": "tr/trace/tracing__us_2.mp3"
            }
        ]
    },
    "wordOrigin": "verb Middle English (first recorded as a noun in the sense ‘path that someone or something takes’): from Old French trace (noun), tracier (verb), based on Latin tractus ‘drawing, draught’, from trahere ‘draw, pull’."
}