track
track [track tracks tracked tracking] noun, verb BrE [træk] NAmE [træk]
noun
ROUGH PATH
1. countable a rough path or road, usually one that has not been built but that has been made by people walking there
•a muddy track through the forest 
see also ↑cart track
MARKS ON GROUND
2. countable, usually plural marks left by a person, an animal or a moving vehicle
• We followed the bear's tracks in the snow.
•tyre tracks
FOR TRAIN
3. countable, uncountable rails that a train moves along
•railway/railroad tracks
• India has thousands of miles of track.
4. countable (NAmE)a track with a number at a train station that a train arrives at or leaves from
• The train for Chicago is on track 9.
FOR RACES
5. countable a piece of ground with a special surface for people, cars, etc. to have races on
•a running track
•a Formula One Grand Prix track (= for motor racing)
see also ↑dirt track (2), ↑track and field
DIRECTION/COURSE
6. countable the path or direction that sb/sth is moving in
• Police are on the track of (= searching for) the thieves.
• She is on the fast track to promotion (= will get it quickly).
see also ↑one-track mind
ON TAPE/CD
7. countable a piece of music or song on a record, tape or CD
•a track from their latest album
8. countable part of a tape, CD or computer disk that music or information can be recorded on
•a sixteen track recording studio
•She sang on the backing track.
see also ↑soundtrack
FOR CURTAIN
9. countable a pole or rail that a curtain moves along
ON LARGE VEHICLE
10. countable a continuous belt of metal plates around the wheels of a large vehicle such as a ↑bulldozer that allows it to move over the ground
more at off the beaten track at ↑beat v., cover your tracks at ↑cover v., hot on sb's/sth's tracks/trail at ↑hot adj., from/on the wrong side of the tracks at ↑wrong adj.
Word Origin:
late 15th cent. (in the sense ‘trail, marks left behind’): the noun from Old French trac, perhaps from Low German or Dutch trek ‘draught, drawing’; the verb (current senses dating from the mid 16th cent.) from French traquer or directly from the noun.
British/American:
platform / track
In British stations the platforms, where passengers get on and off trains, have numbers: ▪ The Edinburgh train is waiting at platform 4.
In stations in the USA, it is the track that the train travels along that has a number: ▪ The train for Chicago is on track 9.
Example Bank:
•A few planes were parked on the perimeter track of the airfield.
•Continue along the farm track for another hundred metres.
•Film comedy developed along a similar track to film drama.
•He had been careless, and had done little to cover his tracks.
•He switched tracks and went back to college.
•I was so absorbed in my work that I lost track of time.
•Keep track of all your payments by writing them down in a book.
•Many branch lines were closed, and the tracks lifted.
•Rabbits had left tracks in the snow.
•She decided to change her career track.
•She felt the excitement of a journalist on the track of a good story.
•She had already cut a couple of tracks as lead singer with her own group.
•She seems to be on the fast track for promotion.
•The beach is criss-crossed with animal tracks.
•The company already operates a greyhound track.
•The competition features many top track and field athletes.
•The country is on the fast track to democracy.
•The disease was stopped in its tracks by immunization programmes.
•The new manager successfully got the team back onto the right track.
•The police were on the wrong track when they treated the case as a revenge killing.
•The ship was on a southerly track.
•The track leads across a field.
•This song is easily the disc's standout track.
•When the track forks, take the left fork.
•Yesterday I had track practice.
•a single track road with passing places
•a twin track approach to crime
•an inside track to the ear of government
•A cart track led to the farm.
•A forest track leads up to the waterfall.
•A sign marks where the cycle track = a special route for cyclists ends.
•An ancient track crosses the moors.
•Follow the track north across the moor.
•Students pursue one of three tracks: professional writing, film/television/video or new media.
•The green hills were criss-crossed with sheep tracks.
•The path joins a farm track near a barn.
•There are thirteen tracks on the album.
•There were two sets of fresh tyre tracks outside.
•They had to drive up a dirt track.
•We followed the bear's tracks in the snow.
•We were bumping along the rough track that led to the lake.
Idioms: ↑back on track ▪ ↑keep track of somebody ▪ ↑make tracks ▪ ↑on the right track ▪ ↑on track ▪ ↑stop in your tracks ▪ ↑stop somebody in their tracks
Derived: ↑track somebody down
verb
FOLLOW
1. transitive, intransitive ~ (sb/sth) to find sb/sth by following the marks, signs, information, etc, that they have left behind them
•hunters tracking and shooting bears
2. transitive ~ sb/sth | ~ where, how, etc… to follow the movements of sb/sth, especially by using special electronic equipment
•We continued tracking the plane on our radar.
3. transitive ~ sb/sth | ~ where, how, etc… to follow the progress or development of sb/sth
•The research project involves tracking the careers of 400 graduates.
see also ↑fast-track
OF CAMERA
4. intransitive + adv./prep. to move in relation to the thing that is being filmed
•The camera eventually tracked away.
SCHOOL STUDENTS
5. (NAmE) = ↑stream (4)
LEAVE MARKS
6. transitive ~ sth (+ adv./prep.) (especially NAmE)to leave dirty marks behind you as you walk
•Don't track mud on my clean floor.
Verb forms: 
Word Origin:
late 15th cent. (in the sense ‘trail, marks left behind’): the noun from Old French trac, perhaps from Low German or Dutch trek ‘draught, drawing’; the verb (current senses dating from the mid 16th cent.) from French traquer or directly from the noun.
Example Bank:
•Police are still trying to track down the witness.
•We finally managed to track him down to a retirement home in Sussex.
•The men earned their living tracking and shooting bears.
•The research project involves tracking the careers of 400 law school graduates.
•They tracked the herd for miles.
•a comparison of schools that track and don't track in math
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