noun / verb · academic
trace
/treɪs/TRACE
a very small amount of something left behind; to find or discover by investigation
Examples
“Laboratory analysis detected trace amounts of pesticide in the water sample.”
“Researchers were able to trace the spread of the disease to a single market.”
“There was no trace of the missing data in the final dataset.”
Band 8 sentence
“Although only trace amounts of the pollutant were detected, their persistence suggests chronic contamination of the aquifer.”
Collocations
- trace amounts
- trace evidence
- leave no trace
Word family
Common mistakes
There is no any trace of contamination.→There is no trace of contamination.
They traced the data from the samples.→They traced the source from the samples.
Say it for a higher band
5sign→6evidence→7+trace
Synonyms
vestige
track
Easily confused
track
“The study tracked participants over a five-year period.”
Related words
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In Sublist 6
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