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without a trace vs without trace

Both 'without a trace' and 'without trace' are correct phrases, but they are used in different contexts. 'Without a trace' is a common idiom meaning completely disappearing or leaving no evidence behind. On the other hand, 'without trace' is less common and is used in a more literal sense, such as 'the water evaporated without trace.'

Last updated: March 25, 2024 • 771 views

without a trace

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English.

This phrase is an idiom that means completely disappearing or leaving no evidence behind. It is often used in the context of someone or something vanishing mysteriously.

Examples:

The thief disappeared without a trace.
The missing plane was never found without a trace.
She erased all evidence of her presence without a trace.
The treasure vanished without a trace.
The ghostly figure faded away without a trace.

Show examples from the web [+]

A child goes missing without a trace.
He disappeared without a trace, like he flew away.
He suddenly disappeared, without a trace.
But, one day, it vanished without a trace.
Down the drain, gone without a trace.
Seems he's taken a page from your manual on how to disappear without a trace.
Classic cars are vanishing from locked garages without a trace.
My father disappeared when I was seven, without a trace.
Somebody hoped that she would just drift away without a trace.
The election was fixed by something that can manipulate electronic signals without a trace.
He disappeared without a trace in 1782.
Like that day at the fur store where you disappeared without a trace.
At least three couples in the last two weeks have vanished without a trace.
After a credit card purchase for gas, he disappeared without a trace.
That kind of stuff doesn't just disappear without a trace.
Number 4 vanished without a trace 24 hours after becoming operational.
It's been four days now since Travis Walton disappeared without a trace.
All disappeared without a trace within a ten-kilometer radius of Carentan.
All disappeared without a trace within a ten-kilometer radius of Carentan.
You arrived in this world without a trace.

Alternatives:

vanished completely
disappeared mysteriously
left no evidence behind
without leaving a trace
without a sign

without trace

This phrase is correct but less common in English.

This phrase is used in a more literal sense to indicate that something has disappeared or dissipated completely without leaving any evidence or remnants.

Examples:

The snow melted without trace.
The footprints were washed away without trace.
The scent of the flowers vanished without trace.
The ink on the paper disappeared without trace.
The memories faded away without trace.

Show examples from the web [+]

So many people vanishing without trace.
Killed by creatures that vanish without trace?
He murdered at least half a dozen people before disappearing without trace in 1902.
Great. How many people do you think are interested in the life of a nutcase who disappeared without trace?
You have overseen the Lisbon Agenda: it was sunk without trace way before the credit crunch hit us.
The disappearance without trace of the bees appears to suggest that there is something toxic in the beehives which weakens the bees' immune systems and repels them.
That a politician - and leader of an opposition movement - can disappear without trace is alarming.
Dozens of participants in the protests have disappeared without trace.
They have sunk almost without trace in this communiqué.
Following the nuclear accident in Japan, thousands of people died and disappeared without trace.
No corpse was found in the mine- And the youths who filmed are lost without trace.
He has now given the job to the Leader of the House of Lords and women's issues have tended to sink without trace.
Atrocities are carried out by the Russian army in Chechnya and between 3000 and 5000 Chechens have disappeared without trace.
Certainly, if Ireland had opted to keep the Irish pound it would have disappeared, sunk without trace by now.
People whose only crime was to meet with a vice-president of this Parliament, Mr McMillan-Scott, have recently disappeared without trace.
So two men have disappeared without trace from the farm, within weeks of each other?
They were men and women with relatives who had been abducted from their homes or offices and taken, apparently, to Syria where they had disappeared without trace.
Meanwhile, murder is the order of the day in the capital, Tripoli, and countless Libyan citizens are disappearing without trace.
Both groups are already on the starting blocks and are intent on crossing into other countries as soon as the borders open, where they will vanish without trace.
According to newspaper reports some 1000 Ethiopian policemen, whose training in Somalia was paid for by Germany, vanished without trace on their way to Mogadishu, the Somali capital.

Alternatives:

vanished without a trace
disappeared without a trace
dissipated completely
without leaving any evidence
without a sign of its existence

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