All 10 Uses of
trace
in
Ulysses by James Joyce
- Always passing, the stream of life, which in the stream of life we trace is dearer than them all.†
Chpt 5
- It's always flowing in a stream, never the same, which in the stream of life we trace.†
Chpt 8
- —He can find no trace of hell in ancient Irish myth, Haines said, amid the cheerful cups.†
Chpt 10
- You wouldn't see a trace of them or their language anywhere in Europe except in a cabinet d'aisance.†
Chpt 12
- Traces of elephantiasis have been discovered among his ascendants.†
Chpt 15
- He exhibits to Dublin reporters traces of burning.†
Chpt 15
- If I catch a trace on your swaddles.†
Chpt 15 *
- (She traces lines on his hand) Line of fate.†
Chpt 15
- The increasing simplification traceable from the Egyptian epigraphic hieroglyphs to the Greek and Roman alphabets and the anticipation of modern stenography and telegraphic code in the cuneiform inscriptions (Semitic) and the virgular quinquecostate ogham writing (Celtic).†
Chpt 17 *
- Occasionally he removed from his lips the traces of food by means of a lacerated envelope or other accessible fragment of paper.†
Chpt 17
Definitions:
-
(trace as in: trace the origin or development) to find, search, research, or keep track ofThis sense of trace usually has to do with information. It's specific meaning depends on its context. For example:
to find or search for something through investigation -- often the origin of something:
- "The police traced the call." -- found out where it originated
- "We are tracing the lost luggage" -- searching for
- "Can you trace the problem to its source?" -- find through investigation
- "She traced her family history to discover that her great-grandmother came to the United States from Lithuania when the Nazis occupied it." -- discovered something through investigation
to research or report on the development of something
- "She traced the history of the automobile in her paper." -- researched the development of something
- "Her presentation traced recent progress in alternative energy solutions." -- reported on
to monitor or keep track of the progress or development of something
- "She traces the progress of at-risk students." -- monitors information
- "I used binoculars to trace her progress up the mountain." -- monitor, follow, or track
-
(trace as in: found a trace of) a small quantity; or any indication or evidence ofThe exact meaning of this sense of trace depends upon its context. For example:
- a small indication that something was present -- as in "The plane disappeared somewhere over the Pacific Ocean without leaving a trace."
- a very small amount of something -- as in "The blood test showed a trace of steroids."
- any evidence of something -- as in "We did not find a trace of the gene."