contact trace

verb

contact traced; contact tracing; contact traces

intransitive verb

: to identify, notify, and monitor individuals who may have had close contact with a person having a confirmed or probable case of infectious disease : to engage in the practice of contact tracing

How well a college contact traces, places infected students in isolation, disseminates a steady stream of messaging to students about following safety practices and punishes offenders all have an impact on how much the virus spreads, [Gonzalo] Bearman said.

—Eric Kolenich

Campbell County Public Health … also contact traces for diseases like measles and whooping cough, where a dozen cases qualifies as an outbreak.

—Johnathan Gallardo and Mike Moore

Yet the only way we'll all win is if we'll do everything possible between now and then—wear a mask, wash our hands, socially distance, contact trace—to put this coronavirus permanently in our rearview mirror in order to return to our old normal every hour of every day.

—Mark Wiedmer

transitive verb

: to identify and notify (someone) through contact tracing

"Our school has done the best they can to keep us all as safe as possible, but I just happened to be in an unfortunate situation and ended being contact traced. I am choosing to focus on all of the positive experiences I had this season and the great memories I made with my team."

—Alexi Fogo

Examples of contact trace in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Our contact tracing effort reached more than 3 million New Yorkers who had been infected by, or were exposed to, the virus, creating millions of opportunities to break chains of transmission. —Dr. Mitchell Katz, New York Daily News, 14 Mar. 2025

By contrast, countries that used flexible border measures as part of a public health strategy that included mass testing, masking, and contact tracing curbed the spread of COVID-19 while minimizing other harms. —Edward Alden, Foreign Affairs, 6 Mar. 2025

One of the key concerns in these contact tracing apps has been the intrusion into data privacy and security including the exploitation by malicious actors and stalkers. —IEEE Spectrum, 1 Oct. 2020

During the pandemic, Fauci issued important opinions about issues including lockdowns, masking, school closures, vaccines, 6-foot separation and contact tracing. —Cory Franklin, Twin Cities, 2 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1987, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

Rhymes for contact trace

• aerospace
• anatase
• anyplace
• commonplace
• cyberspace
• database
• diabase
• diastase
• dnase
• elastase
• fireplace
• hyperspace

Medical Definition

contact trace

verb

intransitive verb

: to identify, notify, and monitor individuals who may have had close contact with a person having a confirmed or probable case of infectious disease : to engage in the practice of contact tracing

Campbell County Public Health … contact traces for diseases like measles and whooping cough, where a dozen cases qualifies as an outbreak.

—Johnathan Gallardo and Mike Moore, The Billings (Montana) Gazette

transitive verb

: to identify and notify (someone) through contact tracing

When a first major outbreak hit Grand Forks, North Dakota, in April, the problem was clear: More than 150 employees of a wind turbine blade factory were infected. The factory shut its doors for several weeks, and public health officials tested and contact traced each case.

—Sarah Mervosh and Lucy Tompkins, The Houston Chronicle