track (tr k)n. 1. a. A mark or succession of marks left by something that has passed. b. A path, route, or course indicated by such marks: an old wagon track through the mountains. 2. A path along which something moves; a course: following the track of an airplane on radar. 3. a. A course of action; a method of proceeding: on the right track for solving the puzzle. b. An intended or proper course: putting a stalled project back on track. 4. A succession of ideas; a train of thought. 5. Awareness of something occurring or passing: keeping track of the score; lost all track of time. 6. Sports a. A course laid out for running or racing. b. Athletic competition on such a course; track events. c. Track and field. 7. A rail or set of parallel rails upon which railroad cars or other vehicles run. 8. tracks The boundary, formerly often delineated by train tracks, that separates two neighborhoods of different social class: grew up on the wrong side of the tracks. 9. Either of the continuous metal belts with which vehicles such as bulldozers and tanks move over the ground. 10. A metal groove or ridge that holds, guides, and reduces friction for a moving device or apparatus. 11. Any of several courses of study to which students are assigned according to ability, achievement, or needs: academic, vocational, and general tracks. 12. a. A distinct path, as along a length of film or magnetic tape, on which sound, images, or other information is recorded. b. A distinct selection from a sound recording, such as a phonograph record or compact disk, usually containing an individual work or part of a larger work: the title track of an album. c. One of the separate sound recordings that are combined so as to be heard simultaneously, as in stereophonic sound reproduction: mixed the vocal track and instrumental track. 13. Computer Science One of the concentric magnetic rings that form the separate data storage areas on a floppy disk or a hard disk. 14. tracks Slang Needle marks on the skin from multiple intravenous injections, considered an indication of habitual drug use. v. tracked, track·ing, tracks v.tr. 1. To follow the tracks of; trail: tracking game through the forest. 2. To move over or along; traverse. 3. To carry on the shoes and deposit: tracked mud on the rug. 4. To observe or monitor the course of (aircraft, for example), as by radar. 5. To observe the progress of; follow: tracking the company's performance daily. 6. To equip with a track. 7. To assign (a student) to a curricular track. v.intr. Phrasal Verb: 1. To move along a track. 2. To follow a course; travel. 3. To keep a constant distance apart. Used of a pair of wheels. 4. To be in alignment. 5. a. To follow the undulations in the groove of a phonograph record. Used of a needle. b. To move across magnetic heads. Used of magnetic tape. track down Idiom: To pursue until found or captured: "When, like a running grave, time tracks you down" (Dylan Thomas). in (one's) tracks Exactly where one is standing: stopped him right in his tracks. [Middle English trak, from Old French trac, perhaps of Germanic origin.] track  a·ble adj.track er n. |
tracks [træks]
pl n
1. (sometimes singular) marks, such as footprints, tyre impressions, etc., left by someone or something that has passed
in one's tracks on the very spot where one is standing (esp in the phrase stop in one's tracks)
make tracks to leave or depart
make tracks for to go or head towards
the wrong side of the tracks the unfashionable or poor district or stratum of a community
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