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

After two cases were detected at the University of Florida at Gainesville, for instance, health-department officials performed contact tracing, ultimately reaching some 1,000 people, Fred Southwick, an infectious-disease specialist at the university, told me. —Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 13 Mar. 2026

Public health officials have started contact tracing efforts after more than 100 children were possibly exposed to measles at a Sacramento County event. —Cecilio Padilla, CBS News, 6 Mar. 2026

Based on their projections, $41.1 million would be needed each year to cover patients’ basic medical needs, including health insurance, and $947 million for public health response efforts such as surveillance and contact tracing. —Erika Edwards, NBC news, 1 Mar. 2026

The first active case of TB was reported in November, and contact tracing found two additional active cases in January. —Catherine Ho, San Francisco Chronicle, 24 Feb. 2026

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