track

plural tracks

1. A mark left by something that has passed along.

   Follow the track of the ship.

   1 more example

   Can you see any tracks in the snow?

   Synonyms: trace, trail, wake

2. A mark or impression left by the foot, either of man or animal.

   The fox tracks were still visible in the snow.

   Synonyms: footprint, impression

3. The entire lower surface of the foot; said of birds, etc.
4. A road or other similar beaten path.

   Follow the track for a hundred metres.

   Synonyms: path, road, way

5. Physical course; way.

   Astronomers predicted the track of the comet.

   Synonyms: course, path, trajectory, way

6. A path or course laid out for a race, for exercise, etc.

   The going is good on the track.

   2 more examples

   The athletes ran round the track.

   The Celebrity, by arts unknown, induced Mrs. Judge Short and two other ladies to call at Mohair on a certain afternoon when Mr. Cooke was trying a trotter on the track. The three returned wondering and charmed with Mrs. Cooke; they were sure she had had no hand in the furnishing of that atrocious house.

   1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, page 58

   Synonyms: course, racetrack

7. The direction and progress of someone or something; path.

   You cannot simply “get” your child back on track; you and others can only help your child with that task.

   2009, Kenneth H. Talan, Help Your Child Or Teen Get Back on Track, →ISBN

   1 more example

   My track record was enough proof that I couldn't use women for medicinal purposes, and even my attempts at casual relationships were not adequate enough to even temporarily release the poisons inside me.

   2010, Randall Lee, Memoirs to My Women, →ISBN, page 242

8. railwaysThe way or rails along which a train moves.

   They briefly closed the railway to remove debris found on the track.

   Synonyms: rails, railway, train tracks, tracks

9. A tract or area, such as of land.

   Synonyms: area, parcel, region, tract

10. slangThe street, as a prostitute's place of work.

    After putting Tonya Down on the track, we headed to this club called the Players Club.

    2012, Paul D. Jones, Twilight Nights: The Trials and Tribulations of the Game, page 130

    1 more example

    A real pimp is a gentleman, but these are pimps in gorilla suits. They hang around pimps, they have hoes on the track working for them, they may even look like pimps, but they are straight simps.

    2012, Pimpin' Ken, PIMPOLOGY: The 48 Laws of the Game, page 11

11. Awareness of something, especially when arising from close monitoring.

    You will need to keep track of meetings with your lawyer and court deadlines.

    2006, James J. Gross, Michael F. Callahan, Money and Divorce: The First 90 Days and After, →ISBN, page 24

    1 more example

    We have to formulate what we want, be so concentrated on it, so focused on it, and so aware of it that we lose track of ourselves, we lose track of time, we lose track of our identity.

    2012, Steven Gurgevich, Joy Gurgevich, The Self-Hypnosis Diet, →ISBN

12. automotiveThe distance between two opposite wheels on a same axletree.

    Synonyms: track width

13. abbreviationellipsisautomotiveEllipsis of caterpillar track.
14. ball gamesThe pitch.

    Synonyms: ground, pitch

15. Sound stored on a record.

    Synonyms: recording

16. The physical track on a record.

    Synonyms: groove

17. entertainmentA song or other relatively short piece of music, on a record, separated from others by a short silence.

    My favourite track on the album is "Sunshine".

18. computingA circular (never-ending) data storage unit on a side of magnetic or optical disk, divided into sectors.
19. uncountablehobbiesThe racing events of track and field; track and field in general.

    I'm going to try out for track next week.

    1 more example

    The University of Virginia belongs to the Atlantic Coast Conference and competes interscholastically in basketball, baseball, crew, cross country, fencing, football, golf, indoor track, lacrosse, polo, soccer, swimming, tennis, track, and wrestling.

    1973, University of Virginia Undergraduate Record

    Synonyms: athletics, track and field

20. A themed set of talks within a conference.

    This year's third annual Women's Institute will include two tracks—on health and organizational issues—because of the overwhelming response and demand for more workshops last year.

    1992 February 2, Carrie Wofford, “Fifth National Black Gay Conference”, in Gay Community News, volume 19, number 28, page 1

21. abbreviationclippingcolloquialfashionClipping of trackshoe.
22. PhilippineseducationA specialization in senior high school. Some tracks consist of strands.

present singular third person tracks · participle present tracking · participle past tracked · past tracked

1. To continue over time.
   1. transitiveTo observe the (measured) state of a person or object over time.

      We will track the raven population over the next six months.

      1 more example

      Your sleep score is consistently high, you're tracking macros like it's your job, and you've finally got your VO2 max and heart rate variability dialed in.

      2026, Ginny Graves, “The Most Important Health Metric You're Not Tracking”, in Men's Health, volume 41, number 2, page 18

   2. transitiveTo monitor the movement of a person or object.

      Agent Miles has been tracking the terrorist since Madrid.

      2 more examples

      I always had a suspicion that Calico, with his blend of simple faith and gipsy blood, had violated a temple, or looted a shrine, to save his son's life, and that the guardians of the relic tracked him and revenged the outrage.

      1923, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], “(please specify the page)”, in The Eyes of Max Carrados, London: Grant Richards, →OCLC

      Vlad says there is an American drone the Russians can't track. He wants a lot more of those.

      2022 May 5, Erin Burnett, 3:37 from the start, in See how gamers are outwitting and helping to kill Russian soldiers, CNN, archived from the original on 13 May 2022

      Synonyms: follow

   3. transitiveTo match the movement or change of a person or object.

      My height tracks my father's at my age, so I might end up as tall as him.

   4. intransitivetransitiveTo travel so that a moving object remains in shot.

      The camera tracked the ball even as the field of play moved back and forth, keeping the action in shot the entire time.

   5. intransitiveTo move.

      The hurricane tracked further west than expected.

   6. transitiveTo traverse; to move across.

      I've swept o'er the mountain, the forest and fell, / I've played on the rock where the wild chamois dwell; / I have tracked the desert so dreary and rude, / Through the pathless depths of its solitude; […]

      1837, Elizabeth Parker, Popular Poems. Selected by E. P., page 228

   7. transitiveTo tow.
   8. intransitiveTo exhibit good cognitive function.

      Is the patient tracking? Does he know where he is?

      2 more examples

      Bess already knew about the painkillers and alcohol not mixing well.... "I wasn't tracking very well."

      2004, Catherine Anderson, Blue Skies, Penguin, →ISBN, page 39

      My mother in the past couple of days has started to really get confused and lose her train of thought easily.... She isn't tracking very well.

      2010 October 1, "karimitch" (username), "Memory Loss - Pancreatic Cancer Forums", in cancerforums.net, Cancer Forums

2. transitiveTo follow the tracks of.

   My uncle spent all day tracking the deer, whose hoofprints were clear in the mud.

3. transitiveTo discover the location of a person or object by following traces.

   I tracked Joe to his friend's bedroom, where he had spent the night.

   1 more example

   "She could be at any hospital...she could be ill. It's not clear whether she has fled," he told reporters. "Yingluck has many homes and many cars. It is difficult to track her."

   2017 August 25, Aukkarapon Niyomyat & Panarat Thepgumpanat, "Thai junta seeks Yingluck's arrest as former PM skips court verdict", in reuters.com, Reuters

   Synonyms: find, locate, trace, track down

4. transitiveTo make tracks on or to leave in the form of tracks.

   In winter, my cat tracks mud all over the house.

5. intransitivetransitiveTo create a musical recording (a track).

   Lil Kyle is gonna track with that DJ next week.

   1. intransitivetransitivecomputingTo create music using tracker software.

      At the time, tracking chiptunes (i.e. using trackers) was the fundamental method of chipmusic-making.

      2018, Dafni Tragaki, Made in Greece: Studies in Popular Music

6. colloquialintransitiveTo make sense; to be consistent with known information

   Vitron isn't hiding anything. The oil is there, the books are open, everything tracks.

   1988, “The Rifle”, in Dynasty, season 8, episode 15

   2 more examples

   Before he took off, our guy went online... to transfer all his personal accounts into his checking account. CDs, money market funds, everything. That tracks. According to Nick, he was trying to sell the dry cleaners.

   2002, “Midnight Sun”, in Without a Trace, season 1, episode 10

   There was an electrical storm in the center of this blizzard, Ben. It's extremely rare, but it can happen. Dark lightning? I can't prove it, but it tracks.

   2019, “Cleared for Approach”, in Manifest, season 1, episode 13

   Synonyms: check out, figure, make sense, check out

7. To separate into educational tracks, each of which teaches to a different level of ability.

   Most working class kids are purposely "tracked" through schools, kept uninformed about scholarships and remedial education/vocation programs and shepherded into dead-end jobs.

   1990 February 4, Leonard Tirado, “Privatized 'Recovery' Versus Collective Action”, in Gay Community News, volume 17, number 29, page 19