word-vault
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A lightweight JavaScript package for English word definitions and collections.
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{
"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’."
}