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Trail vs Stream - What's the difference?

trail | stream |

As a proper noun trail

is a city in british columbia.

As a noun stream is

a small river; a large creek; a body of moving water confined by banks.

As a verb stream is

to flow in a continuous or steady manner, like a liquid.

trail

English

Verb

(en verb)
  • (label) To follow behind (someone or something); to tail (someone or something).
  • (label) To drag (something) behind on the ground.
  • * 1922 , (Virginia Woolf), (w, 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.
  • (label) To leave (a trail of).
  • (label) 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.
  • To be losing, to be behind in a competition.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2011, date=December 29, author=Keith Jackson, work=Daily Record
  • , title= SPL: Celtic 1 Rangers 0 , passage=Neil Lennon and his players have, in almost no time at all, roared back from trailing Rangers by 15 points in November to ending the year two points clear.}}
  • (label) 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.
  • To flatten (grass, etc.) by walking through it; to tread down.
  • (Longfellow)
  • (label) To take advantage of the ignorance of; to impose upon.
  • * (1816-1855)
  • I presently perceived she was (what is vernacularly termed) trailing Mrs. Dent; that is, playing on her ignorance.

    Derived terms

    * trailer * trail off

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • 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.
  • A route for travel over land, especially a narrow, unpaved pathway for use by hikers, horseback riders, etc.
  • A trailer broadcast on television for a forthcoming film or programme.
  • Synonyms

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

    Derived terms

    * condensation trail, contrail * paper trail * sawdust trail * star trail * trail bike * trailblazer (see blazer) * trailblazing * trail mix * vapo(u)r trail

    See also

    * path * track

    Anagrams

    * * ----

    stream

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A small river; a large creek; a body of moving water confined by banks.
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=8 , passage=Now we plunged into a deep shade with the boughs lacing each other overhead, and crossed dainty, rustic bridges over the cold trout-streams , the boards giving back the clatter of our horses' feet:
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-01, author=Nancy Langston, volume=101, issue=1, page=59
  • , magazine=(American Scientist) , title= The Fraught History of a Watery World , passage=European adventurers found themselves within a watery world, a tapestry of streams , channels, wetlands, lakes and lush riparian meadows enriched by floodwaters from the Mississippi River.}}
  • A thin connected passing of a liquid through a lighter gas (e.g. air).
  • Any steady flow or succession of material, such as water, air, radio signal or words.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
  • , chapter=10 citation , passage=With a little manœuvring they contrived to meet on the doorstep which was […] in a boiling stream of passers-by, hurrying business people speeding past in a flurry of fumes and dust in the bright haze.}}
  • * {{quote-news, year=2011, date=December 21, author=Helen Pidd
  • , title=Europeans migrate south as continent drifts deeper into crisis, work=the Guardian citation , passage=A new stream of migrants is leaving the continent. It threatens to become a torrent if the debt crisis continues to worsen.}}
  • (sciences) An umbrella term for all moving waters.
  • (computing) A source or repository of data that can be read or written only sequentially.
  • (UK, education) A division of a school year by perceived ability.
  • Synonyms

    * beck * brook * burn * creek * flow * rill

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To flow in a continuous or steady manner, like a liquid.
  • * Milton
  • beneath those banks where rivers stream
  • * 1898 , , (Moonfleet) Chapter 4
  • When I came to myself I was lying, not in the outer blackness of the Mohune vault, not on a floor of sand; but in a bed of sweet clean linen, and in a little whitewashed room, through the window of which the spring sunlight streamed .
  • To extend; to stretch out with a wavy motion; to float in the wind.
  • A flag streams in the wind.
  • (Internet) To push continuous data (e.g. music) from a server to a client computer while it is being used (played) on the client.
  • Anagrams

    * ----