disappear without a trace

Meaning

This phrase means to vanish completely and suddenly, leaving behind absolutely no clues, evidence, signs, or tracks. It is used to describe missing people, lost objects, deleted digital data, or abstract concepts that vanish entirely.

Examples

• The ship seemed to disappear without a trace in the middle of the ocean.

  The ship seemed to disappear without a trace in the middle of the ocean.

• I left my keys on the counter, and now they have disappeared without a trace.

  I left my keys on the counter, and now they have disappeared without a trace.

• All the files on my hard drive suddenly disappeared without a trace after the update.

  All the files on my hard drive suddenly disappeared without a trace after the update.

• The ancient civilization seemed to disappear without a trace thousands of years ago.

  The ancient civilization seemed to disappear without a trace thousands of years ago.

• He packed his bags in the middle of the night and decided to disappear without a trace.

  He packed his bags in the middle of the night and decided to disappear without a trace.

Common Mistakes

• ✗ The evidence disappeared without trace.

  ✓ The evidence disappeared without a trace.

  The idiom always requires the indefinite article 'a' before 'trace'.

• ✗ My cat disappeared without any trace.

  ✓ My cat disappeared without a trace.

  While grammatically understandable, the fixed idiomatic expression is 'without a trace', not 'without any trace'.

Related Expressions

Practice

• The suspect managed to ___ before the police could arrive at the house.

  💡 Vanish completely without leaving evidence.

  Show answer

  disappear without a trace

• Sometimes, files on these old USB drives just ___.

  💡 Vanish entirely with no recovery path.

  Show answer

  disappear without a trace