different between trail vs grail

English

Etymology

From Middle English trailen, from Old French trailler (“to tow; pick up the scent of a quarry”), from Vulgar Latin *tragul?re (“to drag”), from Latin tragula (“dragnet, javelin thrown by a strap”), probably related to Latin trahere (“to pull, drag along”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: tr?l, IPA^(key): /t?e?l/
• Rhymes: -e?l

Verb

trail (third-person singular simple present trails, present participle trailing, simple past and past participle trailed)

1. (transitive) To follow behind (someone or something); to tail (someone or something).

2. (transitive) To drag (something) behind on the ground.
   • 1922, Virginia Woolf, Jacob's Room Chapter 1

     "I saw your brother—I saw your brother," he said, nodding his head, as Archer lagged past him, trailing his spade, and scowling at the old gentleman in spectacles.

3. (transitive) To leave (a trail of).

4. (transitive) To show a trailer of (a film, TV show etc.); to release or publish a preview of (a report etc.) in advance of the full publication.

5. (intransitive) To hang or drag loosely behind; to move with a slow sweeping motion.

   The bride's long dress trailed behind her as she walked down the aisle.
6. (intransitive) To run or climb like certain plants.
7. (intransitive) To drag oneself lazily or reluctantly along.

   Our parents marched to church and we trailed behind.

8. To be losing, to be behind in a competition.
9. (military) To carry (a firearm) with the breech near the ground and the upper part inclined forward, the piece being held by the right hand near the middle.
10. To create a trail in.
11. To travel by following or creating trails.
12. To transport (livestock) by herding it along a trail.
13. (dated) To take advantage of the ignorance of; to impose upon.
    • 1847, Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

      I presently perceived she was (what is vernacularly termed) trailing Mrs. Dent; that is, playing on her ignorance.

Derived terms

• trailer
• trail off

Translations

Noun

trail (plural trails)

1. The track or indication marking the route followed by something that has passed, such as the footprints of animal on land or the contrail of an airplane in the sky.
2. A route for travel over land, especially a narrow, unpaved pathway for use by hikers, horseback riders, etc.
3. A trailer broadcast on television for a forthcoming film or programme.
4. (graph theory) A walk in which all the edges are distinct.

Synonyms

• (track of an animal): spoor, sign
• (route for travel over land): dirt track, footpath, path, track

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• path
• track

Anagrams

• TRALI, irtal, litra, trial

French

Noun

trail f (plural trails)

1. Dual-sport motorcycle
2. Trail running

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??e??/
• Rhymes: -e?l

Etymology 1

Old French graal (“cup”), from Medieval Latin gradalis, possibly corrupted over time from Latin crater (“bowl”).

Noun

grail (plural grails)

1. The Holy Grail.
2. Something eagerly sought or quested for.

Related terms

• Sangrail

Etymology 2

From Old French grael, ultimately from Latin graduale. Doublet of gradual.

Noun

grail (plural grails)

1. A book of offices in the Roman Catholic Church; a gradual.
   • 1694, John Strype, the Memorials of Thomas Cranmer

     antiphonals, missals, grails, processionals, etc.

Etymology 3

Origin uncertain; perhaps a reduced form of gravel.

Noun

grail (uncountable)

1. (poetic) Small particles of earth; gravel.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, I.vii:

     Hereof this gentle knight vnweeting was, / And lying downe vpon the sandie graile, / Drunke of the streame, as cleare as cristall glas [...].

Etymology 4

Compare Old French graite slender.

Noun

grail (plural grails)

1. One of the small feathers of a hawk.

Anagrams

• argil, glair