trailing 1 of 2

as in pursuit
the act of going after or in the tracks of another the detectives' trailing of the suspect led them to the stolen merchandise

Synonyms & Similar Words

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trailing

2 of 2

verb

present participle of trail

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of trailing
Noun
But in the second half, and with the Seahawks trailing, Fleury opened up the offense, much to the team’s benefit. — Andrew Destin, New York Times, 10 Sep. 2026 Van Dam said the Dutch were surprised to win the right to host the Solheim Cup, with golf trailing well behind in the list of most popular sports in the Netherlands fronted by soccer, tennis and field hockey. — ABC News, 7 Sep. 2026 The pilot can then adjust speed and make turns by pulling steering brake lines to deform the trailing edge or shifting weight in the harness. — New Atlas, 4 Sep. 2026 Seattle shot 32% (12 of 38) from the field and two of 11 (18%) from behind the arc before going into halftime trailing by 19. — Assistant Sports Editor, Los Angeles Times, 31 Aug. 2026 Its leading edge sweeps back 37 degrees, with a 28-degree sweep along the trailing edge. — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 18 Aug. 2026 Profits barely budged until mid-2025, then accelerated, rising 25% on a trailing, four-quarter basis through Q1 of 2026. — Shawn Tully, Fortune, 30 July 2026 Meanwhile the company repurchased $6 billion of stock over the trailing year, roughly 100 million shares. — Zennon Kapron, Forbes.com, 27 July 2026 The room is framed by a mural trailing across the top of the walls, by local artist Rafael Arana, tracking scenes from the life of Gilded Age heiress Arabella Huntington. — Jocelyn Silver, Vogue, 26 July 2026
Verb
With the Liberty trailing 86-80 and less than two minutes remaining in regulation, Sabrina Ionescu buried a deep 3-pointer to cut Atlanta’s lead to three. — Chantz Martin Outkick, FOXNews.com, 8 Oct. 2026 The initial call of a home run was overturned, resulting in an RBI ground-rule double for Volpe and leaving the Yankees trailing still, 4-3. — Peter Sblendorio, New York Daily News, 8 Oct. 2026 The White Sox were trailing by a pair of runs in the sixth inning, but had the bases loaded with two outs and the heart of their lineup ready to pounce. — Andy Martinez, Chicago Tribune, 8 Oct. 2026 Food Lion ranks as the third-largest grocer by market share in the area with 103 total stores, trailing Walmart and Harris Teeter, respectively, according to Chain Store Guide. — Desiree Mathurin, Charlotte Observer, 8 Oct. 2026 Meta needs its personal agent to be an anchor app for the company, which has been trailing competitors like OpenAI and Google in the red-hot AI market. — Jonathan Vanian, CNBC, 7 Oct. 2026 For millennials, California was the third-biggest destination, trailing Florida and Texas. — Terry Castleman, Los Angeles Times, 7 Oct. 2026 Colten Ellis stopped 18 shots, including three in overtime, and Buffalo (2-1) won its second straight game when trailing entering the third. — CBS News, 7 Oct. 2026 Burrow is 1-34 when trailing in the final eight minutes of regulation. — Andy Scholes, CNN Money, 1 Oct. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for trailing
Noun
  • The department maintains an early intervention system that flags officers based on risk factors, such as a relatively high volume of civilian complaints, frequent use of force, and involvement in preventable traffic collisions or pursuits.
    — Sean Greene, Los Angeles Times, 9 Oct. 2026
  • Vanity and the sometimes painful pursuit of beauty have never really been gendered ideas.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 9 Oct. 2026
Verb
  • International funding, Patil says, means long waits, complicated contracts and co-production treaties, and Indian filmmakers end up chasing the same grants as professionals from wealthier countries.
    — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 12 Oct. 2026
  • The company said its problems would not be solved by chasing unhealthy sales volume or short-term revenue.
    — Ryan Baker, CNBC, 10 Oct. 2026
Noun
  • The company already offers sleep monitoring and heart-rate tracking with the Apple Watch.
    — Morgan Chittum, Fortune, 6 Oct. 2026
  • The addition will allow users to access all of the Decision Desk HQ data and election tools used by the newsroom, including local races, vote tracking and live predictions.
    — Ted Johnson, Deadline, 5 Oct. 2026
Verb
  • Neela Jolene stars as a young sound engineer grieving her recording-artist father while pursuing a legendary stage of her own.
    — Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 8 Oct. 2026
  • Coffman said Aurora is pursuing a boundary adjustment that would transfer the property into Aurora's jurisdiction.
    — Kelly Werthmann, CBS News, 8 Oct. 2026
Noun
  • Finding people at high risk of incubating the Bundibugyo virus, also known as contact tracing, has proved difficult in Congo.
    — CONSTANT SAME BAGALWA, Arkansas Online, 4 Oct. 2026
  • Finding people at high risk of incubating the Bundibugyo virus — also known as contact tracing — has proved difficult in Congo.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 3 Oct. 2026
Verb
  • In September, a drone that violated Lithuanian airspace was shot down over the nation’s territory for the first time, following similar incidents in Latvia and Estonia.
    — Chas Newkey-Burden, TheWeek, 9 Oct. 2026
  • The European Research Council supported the research through the H2Bro project, following Rothschild’s ERC Advanced Grant awarded in 2023.
    — Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 9 Oct. 2026
Noun
  • Gallium from gold waste Gold mine tailings are fine, sand-like waste materials which are usually left behind after gold and other valuable minerals are extracted from ore.
    — Georgina Jedikovska, Interesting Engineering, 9 Oct. 2026
  • Still, the tungsten from those tailings — in a sense, the mine’s low-hanging fruit — could be ready for sale as soon as early 2027, Haji said.
    — Sarah Cutler, Idaho Statesman, 19 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • To support defense, France, Greece, and Italy in 2024 launched Operation Aspides, a naval mission to protect the EU’s interests in the Red Sea and surrounding trade corridors, including escorting commercial ships.
    — Anna Mulrine Grobe, Christian Science Monitor, 6 Oct. 2026
  • The retaliation begins outside the chapel, where Ellen uses her bow to quietly pick off the guard escorting the hostages, allowing the women to escape and seize his weapons.
    — Max Gao, HollywoodReporter, 5 Oct. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Trailing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/trailing. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

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