trail

Definition

› a series of activities that someone does in order to achieve something: acquisition/campaign/comeback trail The bank's acquisition trail across the globe might slow a little although it continues to look at potential opportunities.

be on/go on/hit the trail › to be trying to find, get, or achieve something: He tells candidates to raise money early, before they hit the trail for speeches and handshakes.

blaze a/the trail › to be the first to do something new: Netscape and Hotmail were both swallowed up after blazing the trail for larger, less agile competitors. I'm not blazing a trail for women, I'm doing this for myself.

(hot) on the trail (of sth) › very close to finding or achieving something: NPR's reporter is hot on the trail of the story.

leave a trail of sth › to leave a series or number of things behind you: His company went into liquidation leaving a trail of debts. Over the past 12 months, the company has underperformed the index by over 20%, leaving a trail of disappointed investors.

→ See also audit trail, paper trail

(Definition of trail noun from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)