track

Etymology

From Middle English trak, tracke, from Old French trac (“track of horses, trail, trace”), of uncertain origin. Likely from a Germanic source, either Old Norse traðk ("a track; path; trodden spot"; > Icelandic traðk (“a track; path; tread”), Faroese traðk (“track; tracks”), Norwegian tråkke (“to trample”)) or from Middle Dutch trec, *trac, treck ("line, row, series"; > Dutch trek (“a draft; feature; trait; groove; expedition”)), German Low German Treck (“a draught; movement; passage; flow”). See tread, trek.

noun

1. A mark left by something that has passed along.
   Follow the track of the ship.
   Can you see any tracks in the snow?
2. A mark or impression left by the foot, either of man or animal.
   The fox tracks were still visible in the snow.
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.
5. Physical course; way.
   Astronomers predicted the track of the comet.
6. A path or course laid out for a race, for exercise, etc.
   The athletes ran round the track.
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
   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, page 242
8. (railways) The way or rails along which a train moves.
   They briefly closed the railway to remove debris found on the track.
9. A tract or area, such as of land.
10. (slang) The street, as a prostitute's place of work.
    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
    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
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, page 24
    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
12. (automotive) The distance between two opposite wheels on a same axletree.
13. (automotive) Short for caterpillar track.
14. (cricket) The pitch.
15. Sound stored on a record.
16. The physical track on a record.
17. (music) A 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. A circular (never-ending) data storage unit on a side of magnetic or optical disk, divided into sectors.
19. (uncountable, sports) The racing events of track and field; track and field in general.
    I'm going to try out for track next week.
    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
20. A themed set of talks within a conference.
21. (fashion, colloquial) Clipping of trackshoe.

verb

1. To continue over time.
   1. (transitive) To observe the (measured) state of a person or object over time.
      We will track the raven population over the next six months.
   2. (transitive) To monitor the movement of a person or object.
      Agent Miles has been tracking the terrorist since Madrid.
      Vlad says there is an American drone the Russians can't track. He wants a lot more of those. May 5, 2022, 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 2022-05-13
   3. (transitive) To 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. (transitive or intransitive, of a camera) To 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. (intransitive, chiefly of a storm) To move.
      The hurricane tracked further west than expected.
   6. (transitive) To 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. (transitive) To tow.
   8. (intransitive) To exhibit good cognitive function.
      Is the patient tracking? Does he know where he is?
      Bess already knew about the painkillers and alcohol not mixing well.... "I wasn't tracking very well." 2004, Catherine Anderson, Blue Skies, Penguin, 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. (transitive) To follow the tracks of.
   My uncle spent all day tracking the deer, whose hoofprints were clear in the mud.
3. (transitive) To 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.
   "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
4. (transitive) To make tracks on or to leave in the form of tracks.
   In winter, my cat tracks mud all over the house.
5. (transitive or intransitive) To create a musical recording (a track).
   Lil Kyle is gonna track with that DJ next week.
   1. (computing, transitive or intransitive) To 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. (intransitive, colloquial) To 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
   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