v.1. To sketch or delineate something: I laid out the map and traced out the path to the park.
2. To delineate some pattern or development over time: The results traced out an interesting pattern of sudden fluctuations every three months. The biographer traced out the politician's rise to power.
3. To ascertain something by reconstructing a series of events: The police traced out the Internet cafe as the place where the virus was launched. The motive for the crime was so unusual that no one could trace it out.