1. vt.追踪；追溯　 track; follow or discover sb/sth by observing marks, tracks, bits of evidence, etc.
2. vt.发现；找到　 discover; find
3. vt.描绘；标出　 draw or sketch the course, outline, etc.; mark out
4. vt. & vi.缓慢而困难地书写　 write slowly and laboriously

　～ family　追溯家世
　～ the former course of a river　考查河流的故道
　～ history　追溯历史
　～ location　标出位置
　～ a map　描出一张地图
　～ name　写下姓名
　～ route　画出路线
　～ accurately　精确地标出
　～ clearly　清楚地标出
　～ laboriously　费劲地写
　～ roughly　草草地勾画
　～ skillfully　熟练地勾画
　～ slowly　慢慢地写
　～ back　追溯
　～ out　勾画出
　～ over　描出
　～ to　查出…的所在

　She is tracing laboriously now.　她正在费力地写。
　He wanted to trace roughly.　他想草草地勾画。

　He knew they were tracing him.　他知道他们正在追踪他。
　The post office is tracing the missing package.　邮局正在追寻那个丢失的包裹。
　They have been unable to trace the source of the epidemic.　他们一直未能查出这一流行病的根源。
　They could not trace him.　他们找不到他。
　The police were unable to trace the whereabouts of the missing girl.　警方无法找到那失踪女孩的去向。
　I cannot trace that letter.　我找不到那封信了。
　The spy traced a plan of the fort.　那个间谍勾画了一张这座要塞的平面图。
　Please trace the location of the parking lot.　请把停车场的位置标出来。
　He traced his name slowly at the bottom of the page.　他在那页纸的下方一笔一画慢慢地写上自己的名字。
　He traced the words with a shaking hand.　他用颤抖的手写下那些字。
　I traced the map.　我把那张地图描了下来。
　By putting thin paper over the map, he traced it.　他把薄纸覆盖在地图上，将它描了下来。
　Several ancient Roman army camps have been traced with the help of air photographs.　借助空中拍摄的照片已发现好几处古罗马军营遗址。
　His resentment can be clearly traced in his letter.　在他的信中可以清楚地看出他的怨恨。

 ♣ trace back to　(v.+adv.+prep.)
　追溯到…　find the origin or (one's family or sth)
　〔说明〕 trace back to常不用于进行体。
　His fear of dogs traces back to a childhood experience.　他对狗的恐惧可追溯到他在孩提时代的一次经历。
　His family traces back to the Norman Conquest.　他的家世可追溯到诺曼人征服英国的时代。
　His father claims to be able to trace the family back to many centuries ago.　他父亲声称能把家世追溯到许多世纪之前。
　I think we can trace the fever back to that long cold swim that she looked against our advice.　我认为她是因为不听我们的劝告而去那次长时间的冷水游泳才发烧的。
　The rumour has been traced back to him.　那谣言经追查是他造的。
 ♣ trace out　(v.+adv.)
1. 勾画出轮廓 mark (sth) lightly or roughly
　She traced out the plan of a house.　她勾画出房子的计划。
　With his finger, he traced out the shape of the buildings in the sand.　他用手指在沙子上画出这些建筑物的轮廓。
　He traced out his route on the map.　他在地图上标出了他来的路线。
　The names were traced out in stark black print.　这些名字是用醒目的黑体字印出的。
2. 提出 to suggest (an idea)
　He has only been able to trace out the outline of the plan, without any details.　他只能提出这一计划要点，拿不出任何细节。
 ♣ trace over　(v.+adv.)
　描出 draw on top of (drawing)，　as through a transparent paper or over lines made with dots
　Even the youngest child can trace over the shapes of the letters with a pencil.　即使小孩子也能用铅笔描出字母。
 ♣ trace to　(v.+prep.)
　找出…的所在，追踪到…　find (sth or sb) as being in or caused by (sth)
　〔说明〕 trace to常不用于进行体。
　Will the police be able to trace us to our hiding place?　警察能查出我们的藏身之处吗?
　The police have traced him to London.　警方一直追踪他到伦敦。
　We traced the river to its source.　我们溯河而上，直到源头。
　He traced the steps to the pond.　他沿着台阶，一直走到池塘。
　At last the noise was traced to a fault in the pipes.　最后人们发现这响声是因为管道出了毛病而引起的。
　These quotations cannot readily be traced to their sources.　这些引语很难马上找到出处。

 ♣ trace, derive
　这组词的共同意思是“追溯”。其区别是：trace表示“追迹，探溯”，含有一步一步追寻的意思，常用于野兽的足迹、古城的遗迹、河源、姓氏不明的著作、谣言的来源等；而derive表示“推出，溯源”，含有较直接的意味，如由水流溯出源泉，由前提推出结论，由一字推出其他等。

　trace　还可用作名词，意思是“痕迹， 踪迹， 微量， 迹线， 缰绳”。

　［同义词］ hunt, pursue, track
　［词源］法语tracier（拖，跟随）