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track
[ trak ]
noun
- a structure consisting of a pair of parallel lines of rails with their crossties, on which a railroad train, trolley, or the like runs.
- a wheel rut.
- evidence, as a mark or a series of marks, that something has passed.
- Usually tracks. footprints or other marks left by an animal, person, or vehicle:
a lion's tracks; car tracks.
- a path made or beaten by or as if by the feet of people or animals; trail:
to follow the track of a murderer.
- a line of travel or motion:
the track of a bird.
- a course or route followed.
- a course of action, conduct, or procedure:
on the right track to solve the problem.
- a path or course made or laid out for some particular purpose.
- a series or sequence of events or ideas.
- something associated with making a track, as the wheel span of a vehicle or the tread of a tire.
- a caterpillar tread.
- Sports.
- a course laid out for running or racing.
- the group of sports performed on such a course, as running or hurdling, as distinguished from field events.
- both track and field events as a whole.
- Recording.
- a band of recorded sound laid along the length of a magnetic tape.
- an individual song or segment of a recording:
a title track.
- 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.
- Automotive. the distance between the centers of the treads of either the front or rear wheels of a vehicle.
- 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.
- tracks, Slang. needle marks on the arm, leg, or body of a drug user caused by habitual injections.
- sound track.
- a metal strip or rail along which something, as lighting or a curtain, can be mounted or moved.
- 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.
verb (used with object)
- to follow or pursue the track, traces, or footprints of.
- to follow (a track, course, etc.).
- to make one's way through; traverse.
- to leave footprints on (often followed by up or on ):
to track the floor with muddy shoes.
- to make a trail of footprints with (dirt, snow, or the like):
The dog tracked mud all over the living room rug.
- to observe or monitor the course or path of (an aircraft, rocket, satellite, star, etc.), as by radar or radio signals.
- to observe or follow the course of progress of; keep track of.
- to furnish with a track or tracks, as for railroad trains.
- Railroads. to have (a certain distance) between wheels, runners, rails, etc.
verb (used without object)
- to follow or pursue a track or trail.
- to run in the same track, as the wheels of a vehicle.
- to be in alignment, as one gearwheel with another.
- to have a specified span between wheels or runners:
The car's wheels track about five feet.
- Movies, Television. dolly ( def 12 ).
- Recording. to follow the undulations in the grooves of a phonograph record.
verb phrase
- to pursue until caught or captured; follow:
to track down a killer.
track
/ træk /
noun
- the mark or trail left by something that has passed by
the track of an animal
- any road or path affording passage, esp a rough one
- a rail or pair of parallel rails on which a vehicle, such as a locomotive, runs, esp the rails together with the sleepers, ballast, etc, on a railway
- a course of action, thought, etc
don't start on that track again!
- a line of motion or travel, such as flight
- an endless jointed metal band driven by the wheels of a vehicle such as a tank or tractor to enable it to move across rough or muddy ground
- physics the path of a particle of ionizing radiation as observed in a cloud chamber, bubble chamber, or photographic emulsion
- a course for running or racing
- ( as modifier )
track events
- sports performed on a track
- track and field events as a whole
- a path on a magnetic recording medium, esp magnetic tape, on which information, such as music or speech, from a single input channel is recorded
- any of a number of separate sections in the recording on a record, CD, or cassette
- a metal path that makes the interconnections on an integrated circuit
- the distance between the points of contact with the ground of a pair of wheels, such as the front wheels of a motor vehicle or the paired wheels of an aircraft undercarriage
- a hypothetical trace made on the surface of the earth by a point directly below an aircraft in flight
- keep track ofto follow the passage, course, or progress of
- lose track ofto fail to follow the passage, course, or progress of
- off the beaten trackSee beaten
- off the trackaway from what is correct or true
- on the track ofon the scent or trail of; pursuing
- the right trackthe correct line of investigation, inquiry, etc
- the wrong trackthe incorrect line of investigation, inquiry, etc
verb
- to follow the trail of (a person, animal, etc)
- to follow the flight path of (a satellite, spacecraft, etc) by picking up radio or radar signals transmitted or reflected by it
- railways
- to provide with a track
- to run on a track of (a certain width)
- (of a camera or camera operator) to follow (a moving object) in any direction while operating
- to move (a camera) towards the scene ( track in ) or away from the scene ( track out )
- to follow a track through (a place)
to track the jungles
- intr (of the pick-up, stylus, etc, of a record player) to follow the groove of a record
the pick-up tracks badly
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Derived Forms
- ˈtracker, noun
- ˈtrackable, adjective
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Other Words From
- tracka·ble adjective
- tracka·bili·ty noun
- tracker noun
- multi·track verb (used with object)
- re·track verb
- un·tracka·ble adjective
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Word History and Origins
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Word History and Origins
Origin of track1
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Idioms and Phrases
- 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.
- keep track, to be aware; keep informed:
Have you been keeping track of the time?
- lose track, to fail to keep informed; neglect to keep a record:
He soon lost track of how much money he had spent.
- make tracks, Informal. to go or depart in a hurry:
to make tracks for the store before closing time.
- off the track, departing from the objective or the subject at hand; astray:
He can't tell a story without getting off the track.
- on the track of, in search or pursuit of; close upon:
They are on the track of a solution to the problem.
- 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.
More idioms and phrases containing track
- cover one's tracks
- drop in one's tracks
- fast track
- follow in someone's footsteps (tracks)
- inside track
- jump the track
- keep (lose) track
- make tracks
- off the beaten track
- off the track
- one-track mind
- on the right tack (track)
- right side of the tracks
- stop cold (in one's tracks)
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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