track

[[t]træk[/t]]

n.

1) rai a pair of parallel lines of rails with their crossties, on which a railroad train, trolley, or the like runs

2) a wheel rut

3) evidence, as a mark or a series of marks, that something has passed

4) Usu., tracks. footprints or other marks left by an animal, person, or vehicle

5) a path made or beaten by or as if by the feet of people or animals; trail

6) a course or route followed; line of travel

7) a course of action, conduct, or procedure

8) a series or sequence of events or ideas

9) trs a caterpillar tread

10) spo

a) a course laid out for running or racing

b) the group of sports performed on such a course, as running or hurdling, as distinguished from field events

c) both track and field events as a whole

11) cvb

a) hfi a band of recorded sound laid along the length of a magnetic tape

b) cvb hfi

band II, 5)

c) hfi a discrete, separate recording that is combined with other parts of a musical recording to produce the final aural version

12) aum the distance between the centers of the treads of either the front or rear wheels of a motor vehicle

13) cmp one of a number of concentric rings on the surface of a floppy disk, or other computer storage medium, along which data are recorded

14) cvb sts tracks, Slang. needle marks on the skin of a drug user caused by habitual injections

15) fur a metal strip or rail along which something, as lighting or a curtain, can be mounted or moved

16) edu a study program or level of curriculum to which a student is assigned on the basis of aptitude or need; academic course or path

17) to follow or pursue the track, traces, or footprints of

18) to follow (a track, course, etc.)

19) to leave footprints on (often fol. by up):

to track the floor with muddy shoes[/ex]

20) to make a trail of footprints with (dirt, snow, or the like)

21) aer. to monitor the course or path of (an aircraft, satellite, star, etc.), as by radar or radio signals

22) to follow the course of progress of; keep track of

23) to follow or pursue a track or trail

24) trs to run in the same track, as the wheels of a vehicle

25) mac to be in alignment, as one gearwheel with another

26) trs to have a specified span between wheels or runners

27) hfi to follow the undulations in the grooves of a phonograph record

28) phv track down, to pursue until caught or captured; follow

•

- keep track lose track make tracks off the track on the track of the wrong (or right) side of the tracks

Etymology: 1425–75; late ME trak (n.) < MF trac, perh. < ON trathk trodden spot; cf. Norw trakke to trample; akin to tread track′a•ble, adj. track`a•bil′i•ty, n. track′er, n.