- [countable, uncountable] rails (= metal bars) that a train moves along
- railway/railroad tracks
- We crossed the rail/train track.
- India has thousands of miles of track.
- Many branch lines were closed, and the tracks lifted.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- rail
- railroad
- railway
- …
- lay
- cross
- come off
- …
- layout
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- [countable] (North American English) 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.
British/American platform / trackplatform / 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 US, it is the track that the train travels along that has a number:
- The train for Chicago is on track 9.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- rail
- railroad
- railway
- …
- lay
- cross
- come off
- …
- layout
- [countable] a piece of ground with a special surface for people, cars, etc. to have races or to drive on
- a race track
- a Formula One Grand Prix track (= for motor racing)
- a running track
Extra Examples- The company already operates a greyhound track.
- Yesterday I had track practice.
- A few planes were parked on the perimeter track of the airfield.
- A sign marks where the cycle track (= a special route for cyclists) ends.
- a single track road (= wide enough for only one vehicle) with passing places
Oxford Collocations Dictionarytrack + noun- championship
- event
- meet
- …
- [uncountable] (North American English) the sport of running on a track
- He loves sports and participates in track and basketball.
- [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
- a dirt track
Extra ExamplesTopics Transport by car or lorryb1, Hobbiesb1- We were bumping along the rough track that led to the lake.
- They had to drive up a dirt track.
- The path joins a farm track near a barn.
- The green hills were criss-crossed with sheep tracks.
- An ancient track crosses the moors.
- A forest track leads up to the waterfall.
- A cart track led to the farm.
- When the track forks, take the left fork.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- narrow
- wide
- steep
- …
- follow
- lead
- fork
- along a/the track
- down a/the track
- up a/the track
- …
- off the beaten track
- on the right track
- onto the right track
- …
- [countable, usually plural] marks left by a person, an animal or a moving vehicle
- We followed the bear's tracks in the snow.
- Leading away into the bushes were fresh rabbit tracks.
- tyre tracks
- The beach is criss-crossed with animal tracks.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- deep
- fresh
- animal
- …
- leave
- make
- cover
- …
- marks
- on the track of
- freeze in your tracks
- halt in your tracks
- stop in your tracks
- …
- [countable] the path or direction that somebody/something is moving in
- He switched tracks and went back to college.
- on the track of somebody/something Police are on the track of (= searching for) the thieves.
Extra Examples- Film comedy developed along a similar track to film drama.
- She decided to change her career track.
- The ship was on a southerly track.
- a twin track approach to crime
- Students pursue one of three tracks: professional writing, film/television/video or new media.
- She felt the excitement of a journalist on the track of a good story.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- fast
- inside
- parallel
- …
- switch
- along a/the track
- on (a/the) track
- track for
- …
- keep track of something
- lose track of something
- [countable] a recording of one song or piece of music
- a track from their latest album
- The album kicks off with the title track (= a song with the same name as the album).
- The opening track is sweet and sentimental.
Extra ExamplesTopics Musicb2- There are thirteen tracks on the album.
- This song is easily the disc's standout track.
- She had already cut a couple of tracks as lead singer with her own group.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- album
- live
- pre-recorded
- …
- create
- cut
- lay down
- …
- feature somebody/something
- include something
- title
- list
- listing
- …
- [countable] part of a computer disk or tape that music or information can be recorded on
- a sixteen track recording studio
- She sang on the backing track.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- album
- live
- pre-recorded
- …
- create
- cut
- lay down
- …
- feature somebody/something
- include something
- title
- list
- listing
- …
- (especially in compounds) the soundtrack of a film or video
- The film is available with French and Spanish audio tracks.
- There is a commentary track by the director.
- [countable] a long, thin, straight piece of metal, wood or plastic that a curtain hangs from and moves along
- [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 see also Caterpillar track™
for train
for races
rough path
marks on ground
direction/course
recording
for curtain
on large vehicle
Word Originlate 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.
Idioms
See track in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee track in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishback on track
- going in the right direction again after a mistake, failure, etc.
- I tried to get my life back on track after my divorce.
be on track
- to be doing the right thing in order to achieve a particular result
- Curtis is on track for the gold medal.
cover your tracks
- to try and hide what you have done, because you do not want other people to find out about it
- He had attempted to cover his tracks by wiping the hard disk on his computer.
from/on the wrong side of the tracks
- from or living in a poor area or part of town
hot on somebody’s/something’s tracks/trail
- (informal) close to catching or finding the person or thing that you have been running after or searching for
keep/lose track of somebody/something
- to have/not have information about what is happening or where somebody/something is
- Bank statements help you keep track of where your money is going.
- I lost all track of time (= forgot what time it was).
make tracks
- (informal) to leave a place, especially to go home
- It’s getting late—I’d better make tracks.
off the beaten track
- far away from other people, houses, etc.
- They live miles off the beaten track.
on the right/wrong track
- thinking or behaving in the right/wrong way
- We haven’t found a cure yet—but we are on the right track.
- 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.
stop/halt somebody in their tracks | stop/halt/freeze in your tracks
- to suddenly make somebody stop by frightening or surprising them; to suddenly stop because something has frightened or surprised you
- The question stopped Alice in her tracks.
- Suddenly he stopped dead in his tracks: what was he doing?
- (figurative) The disease was stopped in its tracks by immunization programmes.
Check pronunciation:
track