Meaning of track in English

At the gun, the runners sprinted away down the track.
The racing car left the track at 120 mph and scythed through the crowd of spectators, killing ten.
Stewards will be inspecting the race track at 9.00.
She was carried off the track on a stretcher.
Her life is as eventful off the track as on it.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Surfaces on which sports take place

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Athletics

track noun (MARKS)

B2 [ C usually plural ]

a mark or line of marks left on the ground or on another surface by an animal, person, or vehicle that has moved over it, showing the direction they moved in:

Police found tire tracks in the mud.

track of The hunters followed the tracks of the deer for hours.

leave tracks The burglars were careful not to leave any tracks behind them.

Amir Mukhtar/Moment/GettyImages

be on the track of someone/something

to be examining marks or pieces of information that show where a person or animal has gone, in order to catch them or it:

The police are on the track of the killer.

More examplesFewer examples

We found some badger tracks in the field.
There are deep tire tracks in the mud.
The dogs did not leave any tracks.
Houses in the track of the storm were destroyed.
The hunters are skilled at following animal tracks in the wood.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Holes, hollows and dips

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track noun (DIRECTION)

[ C ]

the direction that something has taken or will take through the air:

track of People living in the track of the hurricane have been advised to leave their homes until it has passed.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Movement through the air

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track noun (DEVELOPMENT)

C2 [ C or U ]

the direction in which someone's job or education develops:

She was a lawyer, but then she changed track completely and became a doctor.

[ C usually singular ]

the way in which a thought or idea has developed or might develop:

track of I found it difficult to follow the track of his argument.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Making progress and advancing

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Logic and reason

track noun (EDUCATION)

[ C ] education US specialized

(UK stream)

a set of classes for school students with similar ability who are approximately the same age and are taught together:

Students who do well in their 8th grade classes will qualify for the honors track in high school.

the top/bottom track

[ C ] education US specialized

an arrangement in which a group of students attends school at a particular time when another group at the same school is on vacation:

This is a year-round school and parents with several children may have to place them on different tracks.

In a school with a single track, the entire student body is on the same calendar.

Compare

multitrack US specialized

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Students & pupils

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Classes & courses

track noun (MUSIC)

B2 [ C ]

one of several songs or pieces of music on a CD or other musical recording:

The album includes four previously unreleased tracks.

See also

soundtrack

[ C ]

a part of a magnetic strip onto which sound can be recorded, with several tracks on one magnetic strip:

When a piece of music is recorded, each instrument is recorded separately on a 24 or 48-track tape.

More examplesFewer examples

And this next record is the title track on the album '"he Red Shoes."
The first track on the album is surprisingly tuneful.
What is your favorite track on the album?
He played me a track from their new album.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Sound and image recordings

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Audio & video equipment

Idioms

be on the right/wrong track
in your tracks
keep track
lose track
make tracks
off track
on track

track

verb

/træk/ uk

/træk/

track verb (FOLLOW)

C2 [ T ]

to follow a person or animal by looking for proof that they have been somewhere, or by using electronic equipment:

It's difficult to track an animal over stony ground.

The military use radar satellites to track targets through clouds and at night.

be tracked to The terrorists were tracked to (= found in) Amsterdam.

See also

backtrack (GO BACK)

sidetrack verb

Thesaurus: synonyms, antonyms, and examples

to follow someone or something

followFollow me - this way!
tag alongDo you mind if my little brother tags along?
chaseHe was running and the dog was chasing him.
pursueThe robber was pursued by several members of the public.
tailThe car was tailed by police for several hours.
shadowThe police think the robbers shadowed their victims for days before the crime.

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C2 [ T ]

to record the progress or development of something over a period:

The study tracked the careers of 1,226 doctors who trained at the Medical School.

More examplesFewer examples

His book tracks the development of modern English.
She has tracked her family back three centuries.
Police tracked the gun to an abandoned warehouse.
We spent the day tracking deer in the forest.
Radar equipment tracked the progress of the ships.

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Pursuing

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Analyzing and evaluating

track verb (MOVE)

[ I ]

If a movie or video camera tracks in a particular direction, it moves along while it is filming:

tracking shot The movie ends with a long tracking shot around the deserted house.

[ I ] media specialized

If a moving part of a recording machine tracks, it gets into the correct position for operating:

Our VCR tracks automatically.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Cinema - general words

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Audio & video equipment

track verb (FINANCE)

[ T ]

to follow the level of an interest rate, share price, etc.:

The money market funds directly track the rate hikes from the Federal Reserve.

The stock portfolio he set up for us roughly tracks the market.

track verb (STUDENTS)

[ T ] US

(UK stream)

to group and teach together school students with similar abilities who are approximately the same age:

We start to track the children in the third grade.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Classifying and creating order

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Phrasal verb

track something/someone down

(Definition of track from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

track | Intermediate English

track

noun

/træk/

track noun (PATH)

Add to word list Add to word list

[ C ]

a path that is narrower than a road, often with an uneven surface:

We walked along a muddy track at the side of the field.

[ C ]

A track is also one or a pair of parallel metal bars on which trains travel.

track noun (MARKS)

[ C usually pl ]

a mark or line of marks left on a surface, esp. the ground, by a moving animal, person, or vehicle, that shows the direction of travel:

deer tracks in the snow

track noun (SPORTS)

[ C/U ]

the sport of competitive running, or a wide, circular path that is made for this sport:

[ U ] Fall sports include football, hockey, and track.

[ C/U ]

A track is also a specially prepared surface for any kind of racing:

[ C ] a dog/thoroughbred track

track noun (MUSIC)

[ C ]

one of several songs or pieces of music on a musical recording

Idioms

on track
on the right track
on the wrong track

track

verb [ T ]

/træk/

track verb [T] (MAKE MARKS)

to follow something that moves or changes by noticing marks or signs that it has left behind:

The study tracked the careers of 1226 doctors who trained at Harvard Medical School.

If you track something messy or dirty, you leave messy or dirty marks when walking because you had something on your shoes or feet:

The kids are always tracking mud in the kitchen.

Phrasal verb

track down someone/something

(Definition of track from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

track | Business English

track

noun [ C ]

/træk/ us

Add to word list Add to word list

the direction that something has taken or in which it is moving:

They are able to forecast the track of the storm days in advance.

the way in which something develops or might develop:

on the right/wrong track We believe we are on the right track to grow the business in the coming months.

the type of education or career someone chooses and the way it develops:

She was a lawyer, but then she changed track completely and became a doctor.

Students perform better once engaged in a career track with clear expectations of what it takes to get a job.

a vocational/academic track

the way in which a thought or idea has developed or might develop:

I found it difficult to follow the track of his argument.

keep track (of sth)

to keep a record of something, or make certain that you know or remember what has happened:

Keep track of the hours you work.

His job is to keep track of all the shipments going out to customers.

lose track (of sth)

to stop keeping a record of something, or stop being certain that you know or remember what has happened:

I have lost track of the number of times you have been late this month.

So many customers came in that I lost track after an hour.

on track

making progress and likely to succeed or achieve a particular thing:

They're on track to make record profits.

Phrasal verb

track sb/sth down

(Definition of track from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of track

track

But they felt like they had an inside track.

From Chicago Tribune

It's the first track he ever attended with his father.

From ESPN

The most important thing is to keep track, day by day, of what you are trying to control.

From The Atlantic

If it's on a bus, and you are paying with bus cards, that can be tracked.

From CNN

After growing just 8% in 2009, digital track sales in 2010 are up just 1%.

From NPR

It was hard to keep track of time.

From NPR

He's keeping track, by the way, in a book.

From ABC News

And it's not just the track and the environments that look good.

From Wired

So those of us who care about things like the climate will need to go on tracking them.

From Huffington Post

He says now he's a law-abiding citizen, who's trying to get his life back on track.

From NPR

I'm on the right track and feeling great.

From Washington Times

The police eventually tracked down those rustlers, although too late.

From National Geographic

That's how these great tracks are being built in other countries, through government money.

From USA TODAY

French has a long track record of uncovering emerging issues and changing the public policy debate through his work.

From MLive.com

She tracks down the state's attorney hoping for a last-minute alternative.

From OregonLive.com

These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

Collocations with track

track

These are words often used in combination with track.

Click on a collocation to see more examples of it.

audio track

A reading of the words was recorded onto the audio track of a videotape.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

backing track

The microphone was passed round the group, each member of which had the benefit of the backing track being played on individual headphones.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

bonus track

This duet is also included on this album as a bonus track.

From

Wikipedia

This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.

See all collocations with track

What is the pronunciation of track?

C1,B1,B1,B2,B2,C2,B2,C2,C2

Translations of track

in Chinese (Traditional)

道路, （鐵路的）軌道, 小道，小徑…

in Chinese (Simplified)

道路, （铁路的）轨道, 小道，小径…

in Spanish

vía, camino, pista…

in Portuguese

trilho, trilha, pista…

in more languages

in Marathi

in Japanese

in Turkish

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in Hindi

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in Danish

in Swedish

in Malay

in German

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in Korean

in Italian

लोहमार्ग, पायवाट, खुणा…

小道, 狭い通り, （レース用の）トラック…

dar toprak yol, patika, keçi yolu…

voie [feminine] (ferrée), rails [masculine, plural]…

camí, pista, petjada…

voetspoor, spoor, -baan…

ஒருவருக்கொருவர் சம தூரத்தில் தரையில் பொருத்தப்பட்டுள்ள நீண்ட உலோகக் கம்பிகள், அவற்றுடன் ரயில்கள் பயணிக்கின்றன, கல் அல்லது பிற பொருட்களால் மூடப்பட்ட மேற்பரப்பைக் காட்டிலும் மண்ணால் செய்யப்பட்ட ஒரு பாதை அல்லது கரடுமுரடான சாலை…

रेल की पटरी, रेलवे ट्रैक, पगडंडी…

રેલમાર્ગ, પાટા, પથ…

spor, sti, -sti…

spår, stig, väg…

jejak-jejak‘, laluan, balapan…

die Fährte, der Weg, die Bahn…

spor [neuter], bane [masculine], friidrettsløp [neuter]…

ریل کی پٹری, پگڈنڈی, ڈگر…

слід, стежка, шлях…

тропа, рельсовый путь, беговая дорожка…

రైలు పట్టా / ఒకదానికొకటి సమాన దూరంలో నేల మీద బిగించబడిన పొడవైన లోహపు కడ్డీల జత, దాని మీద రైళ్లు ప్రయాణిస్తాయి., రాయి లేదా ఇతర పదార్థాలతో కప్పబడిన ఉపరితలం కాకుండా మట్టితో చేసిన మార్గం లేదా కఠినమైన రహదారి…

دَرْب, مِضْمار, أثَر…

পথ, রাস্তা, ছাপ…

stopa, stezka, dráha…

jejak, jalan setapak, lintasan…

รอยเท้า, ถนน, ลู่…

dấu vết, đường mòn, đường đua…