track down

Thân thiện

The dogs track down a deer in the forest.

Definition

Verb: - To find someone or something after a difficult or lengthy search by following clues, evidence, or a trail of information.

Usage

This verb is transitive and requires a direct object (the person or thing being searched for). It implies a determined, investigative effort. The past tense and past participle is tracked down.

Examples

• The police tracked down the suspect in a remote cabin.
• I finally tracked down that rare book in a small online store.
• Journalists tracked the story down to its original source.

Advanced Usage

• To be tracked down: The passive form indicates the subject was the target of a search.
  • The fugitive was eventually tracked down by federal agents.

Variants and Related Words

• Track (verb): To follow the course or trail of someone or something.
  • The system can track the package's location.
• Tracker (noun): A person or device that follows tracks or finds things.
  • The hunter was an expert tracker.

Synonyms

• Locate: To discover the exact place or position of.
• Trace: To find or discover by investigation.
• Hunt down: To search for determinedly until found (often with a more aggressive connotation).

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Track down is itself a phrasal verb. Its meaning is inseparable from the definition provided above.

Related Idioms

• To run to ground: To find someone or something after a persistent search (similar to track down).
  • The investigators ran the truth to ground after months of work.

Học thuật

Verb

1. pursue for food or sport (as of wild animals)
   • Goering often hunted wild boars in Poland
   • The dogs are running deer
   • The Duke hunted in these woods

Từ đồng nghĩa

• hunt
• run
• hunt down