Hint vs. Trace — What's the Difference?
Difference Between Hint and Trace
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Definitions
Hint
A slight or indirect indication or suggestion
He has given no hint of his views
Trace
Find or discover by investigation
Police are trying to trace a white van seen in the area
Hint
A small piece of practical information or advice
Handy hints on saving energy in your home
Trace
Copy (a drawing, map, or design) by drawing over its lines on a superimposed piece of transparent paper
Trace a map of the world on to a large piece of paper
Hint
Suggest or indicate something indirectly or covertly
He hinted that the sale might be delayed
The Minister hinted at a possible change of heart
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Trace
A mark, object, or other indication of the existence or passing of something
Remove all traces of the old adhesive
The aircraft disappeared without trace
Hint
A slight indication or intimation
Wanted to avoid any hint of scandal.
Trace
A very small quantity, especially one too small to be accurately measured
His body contained traces of amphetamines
Trace quantities of PCBs
Hint
A brief or indirect suggestion; a tip
Stock-trading hints.
Trace
A procedure to investigate the source of something, such as the place from which a telephone call was made
We've got a trace on the call
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Hint
A statement conveying information in an indirect fashion; a clue
Give me a hint about the big news.
Trace
A line which represents the projection of a curve or surface on a plane or the intersection of a curve or surface with a plane.
Hint
A barely perceptible amount
Just a hint of color.
Trace
A path or track.
Hint
(Archaic) An occasion; an opportunity.
Trace
The sum of the elements in the principal diagonal of a square matrix.
Hint
To express or state indirectly
She hinted that she might prefer our company to theirs.
Trace
Each of the two side straps, chains, or ropes by which a horse is attached to a vehicle that it is pulling.
Hint
To indicate or make evident in an indirect manner
"The diversity of observations hinted that they had no common origin" (Carl Sagan).
Trace
A visible mark, such as a footprint, made or left by the passage of a person, animal, or thing.
Hint
To give a hint
Wouldn't hint at the true purpose of the meeting.
Trace
Evidence or an indication of the former presence or existence of something; a vestige
Left without a trace of having been there.
Hint
A clue.
I needed a hint to complete the crossword.
Trace
An extremely small amount or barely perceivable indication
Spoke with a trace of sarcasm.
Hint
An implicit suggestion that avoids a direct statement.
He gave me a hint that my breath smelt.
Trace
A constituent, such as a chemical compound or element, present in quantities less than a standard limit.
Hint
A small, barely detectable amount.
There was a hint of irony in his voice.
I could taste a hint of lemon in my iced water.
Trace
A path or trail that has been beaten out by the passage of animals or people.
Hint
(computing) Information in a computer-based font that suggests how the outlines of the font's glyphs should be distorted in order to produce, at specific sizes, a visually appealing pixel-based rendering; an instance of hinting.
This font does not scale well to small sizes; the hints for the 10-point letter 'g' still need work.
Trace
An act of researching or ascertaining the origin or location of something
Put a trace on the phone call.
Asked for a trace on a lost package.
Hint
(databases) An instruction to the database engine as to how a query should be executed, for example whether to use an index or not.
Trace
A line drawn by a recording instrument, such as a cardiograph.
Hint
(obsolete) An opportunity; occasion; fit time.
Trace
The point at which a line, or the curve in which a surface, intersects a coordinate plane.
Hint
(intransitive) To imply without a direct statement; to provide a clue.
She hinted at the possibility of a recount of the votes.
Trace
The sum of the elements of the principal diagonal of a matrix.
Hint
(transitive) To bring to mind by a slight mention or remote allusion; to suggest in an indirect manner.
To hint a suspicion
Trace
An engram.
Hint
(transitive) To develop and add hints to a font.
The typographer worked all day on hinting her new font so it would look good on computer screens.
Trace
One of two side straps or chains connecting a harnessed draft animal to a vehicle or whiffletree.
Hint
To bring to mind by a slight mention or remote allusion; to suggest in an indirect manner; as, to hint a suspicion.
Just hint a fault and hesitate dislike.
Trace
A bar or rod, hinged at either end to another part, that transfers movement from one part of a machine to another.
Hint
To make an indirect reference, suggestion, or allusion; to allude vaguely to something.
We whisper, and hint, and chuckle.
Trace
To go along or follow (a path, for example)
We traced the trail up the mountain.
Hint
A remote allusion; slight mention; intimation; insinuation; a suggestion or reminder, without a full declaration or explanation; also, an occasion or motive.
Our hint of woeIs common.
The hint malevolent, the look oblique.
Trace
To follow the course or trail of
Trace a wounded deer.
Hint
An indirect suggestion;
Not a breath of scandal ever touched her
Trace
To ascertain the successive stages in the development or progress of
Tracing the life cycle of an insect.
Trace the history of a family.
Hint
A slight indication
Trace
To discover or determine by searching or researching evidence
Trace the cause of a disease.
Hint
A slight but appreciable addition;
This dish could use a touch of garlic
Trace
To locate or ascertain the origin of
Traced the money to a foreign bank account.
Hint
A just detectable amount;
He speaks French with a trace of an accent
Trace
To draw (a line or figure); sketch; delineate.
Hint
An indication of potential opportunity;
He got a tip on the stock market
A good lead for a job
Trace
To form (letters) with special concentration or care.
Hint
Drop a hint; intimate by a hint
Trace
To copy by following lines seen through a sheet of transparent paper.
Trace
To follow closely (a prescribed pattern)
The skater traced a figure eight.
Trace
To imprint (a design) by pressure with an instrument on a superimposed pattern.
Trace
To make a design or series of markings on (a surface) by such pressure on a pattern.
Trace
To record (a variable), as on a graph.
Trace
To make one's way along a trail or course
We traced along the ridge.
Trace
To have origins; be traceable
Linguistic features that trace to West Africa.
Trace
Occurring in extremely small amounts or in quantities less than a standard limit.
Trace
An act of tracing.
Your cell phone company can put a trace on your line.
Trace
An enquiry sent out for a missing article, such as a letter or an express package.
Trace
A mark left as a sign of passage of a person or animal.
Trace
A residue of some substance or material.
There are traces of chocolate around your lips.
Trace
A very small amount.
All of our chocolates may contain traces of nuts.
Trace
(electronics) A current-carrying conductive pathway on a printed circuit board.
Trace
An informal road or prominent path in an arid area.
Trace
One of two straps, chains, or ropes of a harness, extending from the collar or breastplate to a whippletree attached to a vehicle or thing to be drawn; a tug.
Trace
(engineering) A connecting bar or rod, pivoted at each end to the end of another piece, for transmitting motion, especially from one plane to another; specifically, such a piece in an organ stop action to transmit motion from the trundle to the lever actuating the stop slider.
Trace
(fortification) The ground plan of a work or works.
Trace
(geometry) The intersection of a plane of projection, or an original plane, with a coordinate plane.
Trace
(mathematics) The sum of the diagonal elements of a square matrix.
Trace
(grammar) An empty category occupying a position in the syntactic structure from which something has been moved, used to explain constructions such as wh-movement and the passive.
Trace
(transitive) To follow the trail of.
Trace
To follow the history of.
Trace
(transitive) To draw or sketch lightly or with care.
He carefully traced the outlines of the old building before him.
Trace
(transitive) To copy onto a sheet of paper superimposed over the original, by drawing over its lines.
Trace
To copy; to imitate.
Trace
To walk; to go; to travel.
Trace
To walk over; to pass through; to traverse.
Trace
To follow the execution of the program by making it to stop after every instruction, or by making it print a message after every step.
Trace
One of two straps, chains, or ropes of a harness, extending from the collar or breastplate to a whiffletree attached to a vehicle or thing to be drawn; a tug.
Trace
A connecting bar or rod, pivoted at each end to the end of another piece, for transmitting motion, esp. from one plane to another; specif., such a piece in an organ-stop action to transmit motion from the trundle to the lever actuating the stop slider.
Trace
A mark left by anything passing; a track; a path; a course; a footprint; a vestige; as, the trace of a carriage or sled; the trace of a deer; a sinuous trace.
Trace
A very small quantity of an element or compound in a given substance, especially when so small that the amount is not quantitatively determined in an analysis; - hence, in stating an analysis, often contracted to tr.
Trace
A mark, impression, or visible appearance of anything left when the thing itself no longer exists; remains; token; vestige.
The shady empire shall retain no traceOf war or blood, but in the sylvan chase.
Trace
The intersection of a plane of projection, or an original plane, with a coordinate plane.
Trace
The ground plan of a work or works.
Trace
To mark out; to draw or delineate with marks; especially, to copy, as a drawing or engraving, by following the lines and marking them on a sheet superimposed, through which they appear; as, to trace a figure or an outline; a traced drawing.
Some faintly traced features or outline of the mother and the child, slowly lading into the twilight of the woods.
Trace
To follow by some mark that has been left by a person or thing which has preceded; to follow by footsteps, tracks, or tokens.
You may trace the deluge quite round the globe.
I feel thy power . . . to trace the waysOf highest agents.
Trace
Hence, to follow the trace or track of.
How all the way the prince on footpace traced.
Trace
To copy; to imitate.
That servile path thou nobly dost decline,Of tracing word, and line by line.
Trace
To walk over; to pass through; to traverse.
We do tracethis alley up and down.
Trace
To walk; to go; to travel.
Not wont on foot with heavy arms to trace.
Trace
A just detectable amount;
He speaks French with a trace of an accent
Trace
An indication that something has been present;
There wasn't a trace of evidence for the claim
A tincture of condescension
Trace
A suggestion of some quality;
There was a touch of sarcasm in his tone
He detected a ghost of a smile on her face
Trace
Drawing created by tracing
Trace
Either of two lines that connect a horse's harness to a wagon or other vehicle or to a whiffletree
Trace
A visible mark (as a footprint) left by the passage of person or animal or vehicle
Trace
Follow, discover, or ascertain the course of development of something;
We must follow closely the economic development is Cuba
Trace the student's progress
Trace
Make a mark or lines on a surface;
Draw a line
Trace the outline of a figure in the sand
Trace
To go back over again;
We retraced the route we took last summer
Trace your path
Trace
Pursue or chase relentlessly;
The hunters traced the deer into the woods
The detectives hounded the suspect until they found the him
Trace
Discover traces of;
She traced the circumstances of her birth
Trace
Make one's course or travel along a path; travel or pass over, around, or along;
The children traced along the edge of the drak forest
The women traced the pasture
Trace
Copy by following the lines of the original drawing on a transparent sheet placed upon it; make a tracing of;
Trace a design
Trace a pattern
Trace
Read with difficulty;
Can you decipher this letter?
The archeologist traced the hieroglyphs
