Path vs. Trail — What's the Difference?

A way or track laid down for walking or made by continual treading

A trail is usually a path, track or unpaved lane or road. In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, path or footpath is the preferred term for a walking trail.

(chiefly in computing and railway contexts) allocate a path.

To allow to drag or stream behind, as along the ground

A trodden track or way.

To drag (the body, for example) wearily or heavily.

A road, way, or track made for a particular purpose

To follow the traces or scent of, as in hunting; track.

The route or course along which something travels or moves

To follow the course taken by; pursue

A course of action or conduct

To follow behind

A sequence of commands or a link between points that is needed to reach a particular goal.

To lag behind (an opponent)

A pathname.

To drag or be dragged along, brushing the ground

A trail for the use of, or worn by, pedestrians.

To extend, grow, or droop loosely over a surface

A course taken.

To drift in a thin stream

(paganism) A Pagan tradition, for example witchcraft, Wicca, druidism, Heathenry.

To become gradually fainter; dwindle

A metaphorical course or route; progress.

To walk or proceed with dragging steps; trudge

A method or direction of proceeding.

To be behind in competition; lag

(computing) A human-readable specification for a location within a hierarchical or tree-like structure, such as a file system or as part of a URL.

A marked or beaten path, as through woods or wilderness.

(graph theory) A sequence of vertices from one vertex to another using the arcs (edges). A path does not visit the same vertex more than once (unless it is a closed path, where only the first and the last vertex are the same).

An overland route

(topology) A continuous map $f$ from the unit interval $I\; =\; [0,1]$ to a topological space $X$.

A marked course through one or more bodies of water, as for recreational boaters or divers.

(rail) A slot available for allocation to a railway train over a given route in between other trains.

A mark, trace, course, or path left by a moving body.

Pathology.

The scent of a person or animal

(transitive) To make a path in, or on (something), or for (someone).

Something that is drawn along or follows behind; a train

To navigate through a file system directory tree (to a desired file or folder).

A succession of things that come afterward or are left behind

A trodden way; a footway.

Something that hangs loose and long

A way, course, or track, in which anything moves or has moved; route; passage; an established way; as, the path of a meteor, of a caravan, of a storm, of a pestilence. Also used figuratively, of a course of life or action.

The part of a gun carriage that rests or slides on the ground.

To make a path in, or on (something), or for (some one).

The act of trailing.

To walk or go.

(transitive) To follow behind (someone or something); to tail (someone or something).

A course of conduct;

(transitive) To drag (something) behind on the ground.

A way especially designed for a particular use

(transitive) To leave (a trail of).

An established line of travel or access

(transitive) 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.

A line or route along which something travels or moves;

(intransitive) To hang or drag loosely behind; to move with a slow sweeping motion.

(intransitive) To run or climb like certain plants.

(intransitive) To drag oneself lazily or reluctantly along.

To be losing, to be behind in a competition.

(military) 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 create a trail in.

To travel by following or creating trails.

To transport (livestock) by herding it along a trail.

(dated) To take advantage of the ignorance of; to impose upon.

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 route or circuit generally.

(television) A trailer broadcast on television for a forthcoming film or programme.

(graph theory) A walk in which all the edges are distinct.

The horizontal distance from where the wheel touches the ground to where the steering axis intersects the ground.

To hunt by the track; to track.

To draw or drag, as along the ground.

To carry, as 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 tread down, as grass, by walking through it; to lay flat.

To take advantage of the ignorance of; to impose upon.

To be drawn out in length; to follow after.

To grow to great length, especially when slender and creeping upon the ground, as a plant; to run or climb.

A track left by man or beast; a track followed by the hunter; a scent on the ground by the animal pursued; as, a deer trail.

A footpath or road track through a wilderness or wild region; as, an Indian trail over the plains.

Anything drawn out to a length; as, the trail of a meteor; a trail of smoke.

Anything drawn behind in long undulations; a train.

Anything drawn along, as a vehicle.

A frame for trailing plants; a trellis.

The entrails of a fowl, especially of game, as the woodcock, and the like; - applied also, sometimes, to the entrails of sheep.

That part of the stock of a gun carriage which rests on the ground when the piece is unlimbered. See Illust. of Gun carriage, under Gun.

The act of taking advantage of the ignorance of a person; an imposition.

A track or mark left by something that has passed;

A path or track roughly blazed through wild or hilly country

Evidence pointing to a possible solution;

To lag or linger behind;

Go after with the intent to catch;

Move, proceed, or walk draggingly pr slowly;

Hang down so as to drag along the ground;

Drag loosely along a surface; allow to sweep the ground;