trailing

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
trail/treɪl/

▶noun

• 1 a mark or a series of signs or objects left behind by the passage of someone or something.

  ■ a track or scent used in following someone or hunting an animal.

• 2 a long thin part stretching behind or hanging down from something.

• 3 a beaten path through rough country.

• 4 a route planned or followed for a particular purpose: the tourist trail.

• 5 the rear end of a gun carriage, resting or sliding on the ground when the gun is unlimbered.

▶verb

• 1 draw or be drawn along behind.

  ■ (of a plant) grow along the ground or so as to hang down.

• 2 walk or move slowly or wearily.

  ■ (of the voice or a speaker) fade gradually before stopping.

• 3 follow the trail of.

• 4 be losing to an opponent in a game or contest.

• 5 advertise with a trailer.

• 6 apply (slip) through a nozzle or spout to decorate ceramic ware.

– phrases
at the trail Military with a rifle hanging balanced in one hand and (in Britain) parallel to the ground.
trail arms Military let a rifle hang in such a way.
trail one's coat deliberately provoke a quarrel or fight.

– origin ME: from OFr. traillier ‘to tow’, or Mid. Low Ger. treilen ‘haul a boat’, based on L. tragula ‘dragnet’, from trahere ‘to pull’.