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track Definition

track (trak)

noun

  1. a mark or series of marks or other discoverable evidence left by a person, animal, or thing that has passed, as a footprint, wheel rut, wake of a boat, etc.
  2. a trace or vestige
  3. a beaten path or trail left by the repeated passage of persons, animals, or vehicles
    1. a course or line of motion or action; route; way
    2. the projection of the flight path of an airplane, rocket, etc. on the surface of the earth
  5. a sequence of ideas, events, etc.; succession
  6. a path or circuit laid out for running, horse racing, etc.
  7. ☆ any of the courses of study continuing through succeeding grades in an educational structure (tracking), arranged according to various levels of mastery, to which students are assigned on the basis of test performance, abilities, needs, etc.
  8. a pair of parallel metal rails, with their crossties, etc., on which trains, streetcars, etc. run
  9. ☆ the distance between the centers of the tread of parallel wheels, as of an automobile
  10. either of the two endless belts with which tanks, some tractors, etc. are equipped for moving over rough ground
    1. the narrow channel, containing lengthwise copper wires or strips carrying electric current, into which track lights are inserted
    2. any of various structural channels or grooves, as one that holds a sliding door or window
  12. the tread of an automobile tire
  13. ☆
    1. athletic sports performed on a track, as running, hurdling, etc.
    2. track and field sports together
    1. soundtrack
    2. any of the separate divisions on a phonograph record, compact disc, etc. containing individual selections
    3. any of the separate, parallel recording surfaces extending along the length of a magnetic tape
    4. the long continuous spiral groove on a phonograph record in which a stylus moves
    5. in a computer, that part of a magnetic drum, tape, or disk that passes under a given reading head position
  15. Film tracking shot

Etymology: LME trak < MFr trac, a track, tract, trace < ?

transitive verb

    1. to follow the track or footprints of to track game
    2. to follow (a path, etc.)
  2. to trace by means of vestiges, evidence, etc.
  3. to plot the path of and record data from (an aircraft, spacecraft, missile, etc.) using radar, a telescope, etc.
  4. to tread or travel
    1. to leave tracks or footprints on (often with up)
    2. ☆ to leave in the form of tracks to track dirt over a floor
  6. ☆ to provide with tracks or rails
  7. Film to follow (a moving object or person) with a moving camera

intransitive verb

  1. to run in the same (width) track
  2. to be in alignment, as gears, wheels, or the stylus of a phonograph cartridge with a groove on a record
  3. to have a (specified) width between the wheels a narrow-gauge car tracks less than 56 inches
  4. Film to track a moving object: said of a camera or its operator

Related Forms:

track Idioms

(dead) in one's tracks

☆
abruptly, as from being stunned or otherwise rendered unable to proceed his insult stopped me in my tracks

keep track of

to keep an account of; stay informed about

lose track of

to fail to keep informed about; lose sight or knowledge of

make tracks

☆
Informal to proceed or depart hurriedly

on (or off) the track

keeping to (or straying from) the subject, objective, or goal

the wrong side of the tracks

☆
that part of a community where those considered socially and culturally inferior live

track down

  1. to pursue until caught, as by following tracks
  2. to investigate fully or search for until found
track Synonyms

track

n.

  1. A prepared way

    path, course, road, route, trail, lane, roadway, passage, towpath, pathway, clearing, cut, alley, avenue, walk; see also railroad.

    Types of tracks include: railroad, cinder, race, turf, rail, field, cablecar, train, el, elevated train, running, bicycle, subway, trolley; monorail, third rail.

  2. Evidence left in passage

    footprint, trace, vestige, impression, tire track, mark, footmark, spoor, trail, imprint, remnant, record, indication, print, fingerprint, sign, remains, memorial, token, symbol, clue, scent, wake, monument; see also step 3.

keep track of

keep an account of, stay informed about, maintain contact with; see trackv. 1.

lose track of

lose sight of, lose contact with, abandon; see forget 1.

make tracks*

run away, abandon, depart quickly; see leave 1.

off the track

deviant, variant, deviating; see mistaken 1.

the wrong side of the tracks*

ghetto, poor side of town, lower class neighborhood; see slum.

track Synonyms

track

v.

  1. To follow by evidence

    hunt, pursue, smell out, add up, put together, trail, follow, trace, follow the scent, follow a clue, follow footprints, draw an inference, piece together, dog, be hot on the trail of*, tail*, shadow*. *

  2. To dirty with tracks

    leave footprints, leave mud, muddy, stain, filth, soil, besmear, spatter, leave a trail of dirt, draggle; see also dirty.

  3. To follow in alignment

    move in a straight line, keep in a groove, keep in line, move in the same line, follow the track, run straight.

track Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • keep: Cookies The use of cookies enable us to keep track of your shopping patterns thus enabling us to identify you.
  • lose: Quite quickly lost track of what the question originally was ( well I did anyway ).

Preposition: on

  • album: Martin tell us that the next track will be " the first track on the album.
  • ep: I rarely play more that 1 track on a EP even if I've paid £ 8 for it.

Converse of subject

  • criss-cross: Tantalizingly, the Kogi lands are criss-crossed by man-made tracks and staircases up and down the mountain ridges.

Adjective modifier

  • beaten: More realistic for most travelers might be a visit to an island that is really off the beaten track.
  • audio: Move one of the audio clips down to the second audio track.
  • unreleased: The unreleased tracks on this album are just as enticing and addictive.
  • fast: Each of these have long, fast rough tracks with large dikes either side.
  • rough: Each of these have long, fast rough tracks with large dikes either side.
  • favorite: My favorite track is a lilting song celebrating the Maryport sea festival.

Modifies a noun

  • record: My track record auto insurer in cover you for.
  • listing: The " Blood Inside " track listing is as follows: 01.

Noun used with modifier

  • dirt: Don't take the narrow dirt track which is first on the left.
  • backing: Here his pure, clean vocals are supported by a gentle backing track making the voice soar way above the music.
  • standout: Big Themes/Standout Tracks To be honest, I struggled to find a standout track on this album.
  • bonus: There is also a lovely bonus track, ' Stargazer ' , originally from the band's first album, with added poignant violins.
  • commentary: Due to the lack of a commentary track we don't know why these scenes were removed.
  • title: The title track is, in my opinion, the best thing they have ever written.

Followed by a transitive particle

  • down: Also Philip Cummins has been very helpful in helping me track down the problems I am having with vMac.
track Quotes

   Soaring through wider zones that pricked his scars With memory of the old revolt from Awe, He reached the middle height, and at the stars, Which are the brain of heaven, he looked, and sank. Around the ancient track marched, rank on rank, The army of unalterable law.

—Meredith, George

I must be mad, or very tired, When the curve of a blue bay beyond a railroad track Is shrill and sweet to me like the sudden springing of a tune, And the sight of a white church above thin trees in a city square Amazes my eyes as though it were the Parthenon.

—Lowell, Amy

As we rush, as we rush in the train, The trees and the houses go wheeling back, But the starry heavens above that plain Come flying on our track.

—Thomson,James pseudonym 'BV',ByssheVanolis

Then I saw the Congo, creeping through the black, Cutting through the forest with a golden track.

—Lindsay, (Nicholas) Vachel

What is Africa to me: Copper sun or scarlet sea, Jungle star or jungle track, Strong bronzed men, or regal black Women from whose loins I sprang When the birds of Eden sang?

—Cullen, Countee

We had a two-track approach, one political and the other military, and the military was designed to move us along the political track.

—McNamara, Robert Strange

As I came through the desert thus it was, As I came through the desert: All was black, In heaven no single star, on earth no track; A brooding hush without a stir or note; The air so thick it clotted in my throat.

—Thomson,James pseudonym 'BV',ByssheVanolis

The English are all right. They're quiet, they're slow, they count things carefully, they hesitateöand I'm switching to their track.

—Walesa, Lech

   Pardon me boy is that the Chattanooga Choo-choo, Track twenty nine, Boy you can give me a shine.

—Gordon, Mack