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Tracks

 [trak]   Origin

track

   [trak]
noun
1.
a structure consisting of a pair of parallel lines of rails with their crossties, on which a railroad train, trolley, or the like runs.
2.
a wheel rut.
3.
evidence, as a mark or a series of marks, that something has passed.
4.
Usually, tracks. footprints or other marks left by an animal, person, or vehicle: a lion's tracks; car tracks.
5.
a path made or beaten by or as if by the feet of people or animals; trail: to follow the track of a murderer.
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6.
a line of travel or motion: the track of a bird.
7.
a course or route followed.
8.
a course of action, conduct, or procedure: on the right track to solve the problem.
9.
a path or course made or laid out for some particular purpose.
10.
a series or sequence of events or ideas.
11.
something associated with making a track, as the wheel span of a vehicle or the tread of a tire.
12.
a caterpillar tread.
13.
Sports.
a.
a course laid out for running or racing.
b.
the group of sports performed on such a course, as running or hurdling, as distinguished from field events.
c.
both track and field events as a whole.
14.
Recording.
a.
a band of recorded sound laid along the length of a magnetic tape.
b.
band2 (def. 6).
c.
an individual song or segment of a recording: a title track.
d.
a discrete, separate recording that is combined with other parts of a musical recording to produce the final aural version: a special rhythm track added to the basic track.
15.
Automotive. the distance between the centers of the treads of either the front or rear wheels of a vehicle.
16.
Computers. a data-recording path on a storage medium, as a magnetic disk, tape, or drum, that is accessible to a read-write head in a given position as the medium moves past.
17.
tracks, Slang. needle marks on the arm, leg, or body of a drug user caused by habitual injections.
18.
sound track.
19.
a metal strip or rail along which something, as lighting or a curtain, can be mounted or moved.
20.
Education. a study program or level of curriculum to which a student is assigned on the basis of aptitude or need; academic course or path.
COLLAPSE
verb (used with object)
21.
to follow or pursue the track, traces, or footprints of.
22.
to follow (a track, course, etc.).
23.
to make one's way through; traverse.
24.
to leave footprints on (often followed by up or on): to track the floor with muddy shoes.
25.
to make a trail of footprints with (dirt, snow, or the like): The dog tracked mud all over the living room rug.
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26.
to observe or monitor the course or path of (an aircraft, rocket, satellite, star, etc.), as by radar or radio signals.
27.
to observe or follow the course of progress of; keep track of.
28.
to furnish with a track or tracks, as for railroad trains.
29.
Railroads. to have (a certain distance) between wheels, runners, rails, etc.
COLLAPSE

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Tracks is always a great word to know.
So is quincunx. Does it mean:
the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.
an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.
LEARN MORE UNUSUAL WORDS WITH WORD DYNAMO...
verb (used without object)
30.
to follow or pursue a track or trail.
31.
to run in the same track, as the wheels of a vehicle.
32.
to be in alignment, as one gearwheel with another.
33.
to have a specified span between wheels or runners: The car's wheels track about five feet.
34.
Movies, Television. dolly (def. 12).
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35.
Recording. to follow the undulations in the grooves of a phonograph record.
COLLAPSE
Verb phrase
36.
track down, to pursue until caught or captured; follow: to track down a killer.
Idioms
37.
in one's tracks, Informal. in the spot in which one is or is standing at the moment: He stopped dead in his tracks, listening for the sound to be repeated.
38.
keep track, to be aware; keep informed: Have you been keeping track of the time?
39.
lose track, to fail to keep informed; neglect to keep a record: He soon lost track of how much money he had spent.
40.
make tracks, Informal. to go or depart in a hurry: to make tracks for the store before closing time.
41.
off the track, departing from the objective or the subject at hand; astray: He can't tell a story without getting off the track.
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42.
on the track of, in search or pursuit of; close upon: They are on the track of a solution to the problem.
43.
on the wrong/right side of the tracks, from a poor or wealthy part of a community or of society: born on the wrong side of the tracks.
COLLAPSE
Origin:
1425–75; late Middle English trak (noun) < Middle French trac, perhaps < Old Norse trathk trodden spot; compare Norwegian trakke to trample; akin to tread

Related forms
track·a·ble, adjective
track·a·bil·i·ty, noun
track·er, noun
mul·ti·track, verb (used with object)
re·track, verb
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un·track·a·ble, adjective
COLLAPSE

Can be confused: tack, tact, track, tract.

Synonyms
3. trace, record, spoor. 21. stalk, hunt.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To Tracks
Collins
World English Dictionary
tracks (træks)
 
—pl n
1.  (sometimes singular) marks, such as footprints, tyre impressions, etc, left by someone or something that has passed
2.  in one's tracks on the very spot where one is standing (esp in the phrase stop in one's tracks)
3.  make tracks to leave or depart
4.  make tracks for to go or head towards
5.  the wrong side of the tracks the unfashionable or poor district or stratum of a community

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

track
1470, "footprint, mark left by anything," from O.Fr. trac "track of horses, trace" (1440), possibly from a Gmc. source (cf. M.L.G. treck, Du. trek "drawing, pulling;" see trek). Meaning "lines of rails for drawing trains" is from 1805. Meaning "branch of athletics involving
EXPAND
a running track" is recorded from 1905. Meaning "single recorded item" is from 1904, originally in ref. to phonograph records. Meaning "mark on skin from repeated drug injection" is first attested 1964. The verb meaning "to follow or trace the footsteps of" is recorded 1565, from the noun. Track record (1965) is a figurative use from horse racing. To make tracks "move quickly" is Amer.Eng. colloquial first recorded 1835; to cover (one's) tracks in the fig. sense first attested 1898; to keep track of something is attested from 1883. The metaphor in Amer.Eng. wrong side of the tracks "bad part of town" has been traced back to 1929. Track lighting attested from 1972.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Slang Dictionary

track definition


  1. in.
    [for a laser beam, a phonograph stylus, a tape head, etc.] to successfully transfer information to or from a recording medium. : Something here won't track. Must be the stylus.
  2. in.
    [for a person] to make sense. (Usually in the negative.) : She wasn't tracking. There was no sense in trying to talk to her before she came out of it.
  3. in.
    to coincide; to agree; to jibe. : These two things don't track. I don't know what's wrong.
  4. n.
    a musical selection on a recording of some kind. : The next track is my favorite.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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