contact trace

verb

contact traced; contact tracing; contact traces

intransitive verb

: to identify, notify, and monitor individuals who may have had close contact with a person having a confirmed or probable case of infectious disease : to engage in the practice of contact tracing

How well a college contact traces, places infected students in isolation, disseminates a steady stream of messaging to students about following safety practices and punishes offenders all have an impact on how much the virus spreads, [Gonzalo] Bearman said.

—Eric Kolenich

Campbell County Public Health … also contact traces for diseases like measles and whooping cough, where a dozen cases qualifies as an outbreak.

—Johnathan Gallardo and Mike Moore

Yet the only way we'll all win is if we'll do everything possible between now and then—wear a mask, wash our hands, socially distance, contact trace—to put this coronavirus permanently in our rearview mirror in order to return to our old normal every hour of every day.

—Mark Wiedmer

transitive verb

: to identify and notify (someone) through contact tracing

Unfortunately, over the course of the following days, three of my friends … tested positive for COVID-19, and I was suddenly contact traced …

—Sophie Mackin

Examples of contact trace in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In a statement Monday, Contra Costa Health said the agency is conducting contact tracing and notifying local healthcare providers to be vigilent for possible cases. —Tim Fang, CBS News, 29 Dec. 2025

The individual with contagious TB was recently detected at Cache Creek Casino Resort, prompting Yolo County health officials to conduct contact tracing to find people who had close contact with the infected person, according to a statement from the casino. —Hannah Poukish, Sacbee.com, 11 Aug. 2025

Planning underway for contact tracing During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Wisconsin's contact tracers quickly became overwhelmed with the task of reaching everyone who may have been exposed to the virus. —Madeline Heim, jsonline.com, 5 Aug. 2025

Tech companies built applications for contact tracing to help forecast the pandemic’s spread. —Shirley Li, The Atlantic, 18 July 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1987, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

Rhymes for contact trace

• aerospace
• anatase
• anyplace
• commonplace
• cyberspace
• database
• diabase
• diastase
• dnase
• elastase
• fireplace
• hyperspace

Medical Definition

contact trace

verb

intransitive verb

: to identify, notify, and monitor individuals who may have had close contact with a person having a confirmed or probable case of infectious disease : to engage in the practice of contact tracing

Campbell County Public Health … contact traces for diseases like measles and whooping cough, where a dozen cases qualifies as an outbreak.

—Johnathan Gallardo and Mike Moore, The Billings (Montana) Gazette

transitive verb

: to identify and notify (someone) through contact tracing

When a first major outbreak hit Grand Forks, North Dakota, in April, the problem was clear: More than 150 employees of a wind turbine blade factory were infected. The factory shut its doors for several weeks, and public health officials tested and contact traced each case.

—Sarah Mervosh and Lucy Tompkins, The Houston Chronicle