How to Use trail in a Sentence

trail

1 of 2 verb
  • The dog's leash was trailing along the ground.
  • He trailed us as we worked our way up the mountain.
  • Our team trailed their team at the end of the 6th inning.
  • The little girl's teddy bear trailed behind her.
  • The little girl went to her room, trailing her teddy bear behind her.
  • The President is trailing in the polls as the election approaches.
  • We were trailing by 3 runs at the end of the 6th inning.
  • The Ducks never trailed and the third and took a 2-1 lead.
    oregonlive, 9 Sep. 2023
  • The Jayhawks are 4-4 in games when trailing at the half.
    Gary Bedore, Kansas City Star, 5 Mar. 2024
  • Two lone braids were left out of the bun, and their curly ends trailed all the way down to her hips.
    Gabi Thorne, Allure, 26 Oct. 2023
  • The Tigers trailed most of the way on Wednesday, and at times things seemed to be on the verge of getting out of hand.
    Jaden Lewis, Kansas City Star, 1 Feb. 2024
  • The Bills scored on the opening kickoff and would never trail.
    Jeremy Cluff, The Arizona Republic, 10 Jan. 2023
  • The Phillies were trailing 1-2 in the bottom of the third inning when Cleveland’s Amed Rosario stepped to the plate.
    Cydney Henderson, USA TODAY, 22 July 2023
  • The Jayhawks limited the Wildcats to close out the first half but still trailed 30-28 at the break.
    Maddie Hartley, Kansas City Star, 25 Feb. 2024
  • The Brewers trail the season series against the Dodgers, 2-1, with three games to play.
    Jr Radcliffe, Journal Sentinel, 17 July 2023
  • In each of those five losses, the Sox trailed entering the delay.
    Alex Speier, BostonGlobe.com, 22 July 2023
  • But the Ducks showed a little life near the end of the quarter, scoring the final four points to trail 46-37 heading to the fourth.
    oregonlive, 29 Jan. 2023
  • The Rangers, for the first time in 2023, won a game when trailing after seven innings.
    Shawn McFarland, Dallas News, 16 July 2023
  • When Micah Parrish scored with 9:47 to play, the Aztecs never trailed again.
    Bryce Miller, San Diego Union-Tribune, 14 Feb. 2024
  • Miami, which never led in the game, trailed by as many as 31 points in the second half.
    Walter Villa, Miami Herald, 21 Feb. 2024
  • Normant added the black bow to the base of her ponytail, leaving the ends trailing to her ankles.
    Gabi Thorne, Allure, 6 Oct. 2023
  • The hot start was needed against a high-caliber KU squad that still managed to only trail 41-34 at the half.
    Dallas News, 23 Jan. 2023
  • Cleveland can leave town trailing by as few as three games or as many as nine.
    Joe Noga, cleveland, 28 Aug. 2023
  • The Amazon founder dethroned Elon Musk, who trails behind at $198 billion, for the top spot.
    Demetrius Simms, Robb Report, 5 Mar. 2024
  • The Beavers’ five first-team selections trailed only Utah, which had six.
    Ndaschel, oregonlive, 18 July 2023
  • The Cougars trailed 34-30 at the break; worse, their top player, Jordan Vasquez, found herself in foul trouble.
    Ryan Finley, San Diego Union-Tribune, 28 Mar. 2024
  • The Trojans hadn’t trailed by double figures since losing to Utah on Feb. 25.
    Thuc Nhi Nguyen, Los Angeles Times, 2 Apr. 2024
  • The Lakers, for the fifth time in six games, trailed by at least 10 in the first quarter, and the Magic‘s lead would grow to as many as 25 in the second half before the Lakers made a run.
    Dan Woike, Los Angeles Times, 5 Nov. 2023
  • This means using a taller focal point plant, a shorter plant or two to fill in around it, and then a few trailing plants to spill over the side.
    Marianne Willburn, Better Homes & Gardens, 8 Sep. 2023
  • The production shot in Los Angeles for only two days, enough time to get the nighttime shots of Gabrielle driving around town as Louis trails her.
    Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times, 10 Apr. 2024
Advertisement

trail

2 of 2 noun
  • The car left a trail of smoke as it sped off.
  • Stay on the trail if we get separated.
  • The rest of the hike follows the wide trail back to the start of the loop.
    Maura Fox, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 Dec. 2023
  • This hike will last about 45 mins and the trail is 1-mile long.
    Karl Schneider, The Indianapolis Star, 7 Mar. 2024
  • Among those writers on the trail of the far right, Sharlet is the most anguished.
    Benjamin Wallace-Wells, The New Yorker, 29 Aug. 2023
  • Get an early start to avoid the heat, and bring a bathing suit to enjoy where the trail meets the sea.
    Carley Rojas Avila, Travel + Leisure, 27 Nov. 2023
  • As its name suggests, the canyon trail takes you through the canyon, and is the longer trail, about six miles roundtrip.
    Annie Daly, Vogue, 17 Nov. 2023
  • Ong dipped her hand into one of cold, clear pools along the trail.
    Laura Newberry, Los Angeles Times, 20 Sep. 2023
  • The rescue team left the cave and set up trail cameras to track when the bear left the cave, the Facebook post says.
    Zoe Sottile, CNN, 14 Oct. 2023
  • Hop aboard the Balboa Park Railroad and explore the 65 miles of trails on 19 routes.
    San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 Oct. 2023
  • In the middle of a dusty trail, a small wolf lies motionless on a tarp.
    Sebastian Mulder, The New Yorker, 12 July 2023
  • Where the trails pass over slickrock, white dots painted on the russet stone show the way.
    Mare Czinar, The Arizona Republic, 7 Mar. 2024
  • Just like the trails themselves, hiking habits can change over time.
    Nikita Richardson, New York Times, 31 Mar. 2024
  • On the trail, Burgum rarely utters Trump's name, if at all.
    Kelsey Walsh, ABC News, 6 Aug. 2023
  • Law enforcement is urging the public to stay out of the Fault Lake trail area.
    Lawrence Richard, Fox News, 5 Mar. 2024
  • There are no trails to get up the gravelly sides and no ropes to hold onto.
    Heather Knight, New York Times, 24 Dec. 2023
  • Today is the last game of the season and the Wolverines, unbeaten at home, trail 17-16.
    BostonGlobe.com, 24 July 2023
  • The area is also known for surfing and fishing and for the hiking trails that wind along the coastline.
    Mariette Williams, Essence, 17 Nov. 2023
  • Savage Park backs up to the river, where trails wind beside the water.
    Jillian Atelsek, Washington Post, 14 Feb. 2024
  • The main trail will have one color, side trails another.
    Mike Brehm, USA TODAY, 3 Aug. 2023
  • Insider tips on the best of our beaches, trails, parks, deserts, forests and mountains.
    Terry Castleman, Los Angeles Times, 28 Sep. 2023
  • Woll’s body was found on the morning of Oct. 21 outside her home, with a trail of blood leading inside.
    Elizabeth Both, NBC News, 11 Dec. 2023
  • The blood trail was sparse, but Haack eventually followed it to the edge of small pond on the property.
    Travis Hall, Field & Stream, 20 Dec. 2023
  • Smith and Bybee has a paved mile-long trail plus bathrooms, water and a picnic area.
    oregonlive, 28 May 2023
  • There are several great trails in the area for paddling as well as the open area of Florida Bay.
    Evie Carrick, Travel + Leisure, 4 Feb. 2024
  • To overcome this, leaders must blaze the trail with confidence.
    Expert Panel®, Forbes, 15 Feb. 2024
  • Police found Woll with multiple stab wounds and a trail of blood leading to her house.
    Antonio Planas, NBC News, 22 Oct. 2023
  • Police believe the killer knocked Brasso off her bicycle, stabbed her and dragged her off the trail.
    CBS News, 8 June 2023
  • One tip is to go half a size up if your trail is remotely technical.
    Karthika Gupta, Travel + Leisure, 14 Apr. 2024
  • But Clark promised the jury that a trail of blood evidence would lead them directly from the gory crime scene to Simpson’s mansion.
    Elaine Woo, Los Angeles Times, 11 Apr. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'trail.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: