Monitor vs. Track — What's the Difference?
By Tayyaba Rehman — Updated on October 3, 2023
Monitor involves regularly checking something, often for changes or abnormalities, while Track means to follow or trace the movement or progress of something over time.
Difference Between Monitor and Track
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
In the realm of observations and assessments, both "Monitor" and "Track" play pivotal roles, albeit with subtle differences. To "Monitor" implies a sense of continuous observation, typically to detect any anomalies or changes.
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For instance, a nurse might monitor a patient's vitals to ensure they remain stable. On the contrary, to "Track" suggests a sense of following or tracing something's movement, progress, or history. For example, one might track a package to know its delivery status.
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Both actions involve attention to detail, but the focal points differ; monitoring emphasizes current status, while tracking emphasizes progression or movement.
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Furthermore, "Monitor" often carries a nuance of vigilance, suggesting that immediate action might be necessary should anything go amiss. On the other hand, "Track" leans more towards information gathering, like tracking a stock's performance over several years. It's worth noting that while these terms can sometimes be used interchangeably, recognizing their nuances can enhance precision in communication.
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Comparison Chart
Primary Focus
Current status or condition
Movement or progress over time
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Nuance
Vigilance, with potential for immediate action
Information gathering, tracing
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Typical Usage
Checking vitals, system performance
Following a package's delivery, tracing historical data
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Action Implication
Continuous observation, often for changes or abnormalities
Following or recording a journey or progression
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Temporal Aspect
Emphasizes the present moment
Emphasizes a span of time
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Compare with Definitions
Monitor
To check the quality or content of something.
The agency will monitor the air for pollutants.
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Track
A path or course laid out for running or racing.
The athletes ran laps around the track.
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Monitor
To keep a close watch on a situation.
We need to monitor the situation for any changes.
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Track
A mark or succession of marks left by something that has passed.
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Monitor
To listen or oversee for evaluation purposes.
Agents monitor calls for quality assurance.
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Track
A path, route, or course indicated by such marks
An old wagon track through the mountains.
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Monitor
One that admonishes, cautions, or reminds, especially with respect to matters of conduct.
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Track
A path along which something moves; a course
Following the track of an airplane on radar.
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Monitor
A pupil who assists a teacher in routine duties.
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Track
A course of action; a method of proceeding
On the right track for solving the puzzle.
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Monitor
A usually electronic device used to record, regulate, or control a process or system.
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Track
An intended or proper course
Putting a stalled project back on track.
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Monitor
A video display or speaker used in a production studio to check audio or video quality
The sound engineer detected a hiss on the monitor.
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Track
A succession of ideas; a train of thought.
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Monitor
(Computers)A device that accepts video signals from a computer and displays information on a screen; a video display.
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Track
Awareness of something occurring or passing
Keeping track of the score.
Lost all track of time.
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Monitor
(Computers)A program that observes, supervises, or controls the activities of other programs.
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Track
A course laid out for running or racing.
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Monitor
An articulated device holding a rotating nozzle with which a jet of water is regulated, used in mining and firefighting.
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Track
Athletic competition on such a course; track events.
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Monitor
A heavily ironclad warship of the 19th century with a low, flat deck and one or more gun turrets.
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Track
Track and field.
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Monitor
A modern warship designed for coastal bombardment.
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Track
A rail or set of parallel rails upon which railroad cars or other vehicles run.
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Monitor
See monitor lizard.
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Track
Tracks The boundary, formerly often delineated by train tracks, that separates two neighborhoods of different social class
Grew up on the wrong side of the tracks.
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Monitor
To check the quality or content of (an electronic audio or visual signal) by means of a receiver.
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Track
Either of the continuous metal belts with which vehicles such as bulldozers and tanks move over the ground.
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Monitor
To check by means of an electronic receiver for significant content, such as military, political, or illegal activity
Monitor a suspected criminal's phone conversations.
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Track
A metal groove or ridge that holds, guides, and reduces friction for a moving device or apparatus.
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Monitor
To keep track of systematically with a view to collecting information
Monitor the bear population of a national park.
Monitored the political views of the people.
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Track
Any of several courses of study to which students are assigned according to ability, achievement, or needs
Academic, vocational, and general tracks.
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Monitor
To test or sample, especially on a regular or ongoing basis
Monitored the city's drinking water for impurities.
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Track
A distinct path, as along a length of film or magnetic tape, on which sound, images, or other information is recorded.
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Monitor
To keep close watch over; supervise
Monitor an examination.
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Track
A distinct selection from an audio or video recording, usually containing an individual work or part of a larger work
The title track of an album.
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Monitor
To direct.
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Track
One of two or more separate recordings that are combined so as to be replayed simultaneously, as in stereophonic sound reproduction
Mixed the vocal track and instrumental track.
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Monitor
To act as a monitor.
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Track
One of the concentric magnetic rings that form the separate data storage areas on a floppy disk or a hard disk.
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Monitor
Someone who watches over something; a person in charge of something or someone.
The camp monitors look after the children during the night, when the teachers are asleep.
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Track
A set of digital data encoded consecutively on an optical disc.
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Monitor
A device that detects and informs on the presence, quantity, etc., of something.
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Track
Tracks(Slang) Needle marks on the skin from multiple intravenous injections, considered an indication of habitual drug use.
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Monitor
(computing) A device similar to a television set used as to give a graphical display of the output from a computer.
The information flashed up on the monitor.
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Track
To follow the tracks of; trail
Tracking game through the forest.
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Monitor
A studio monitor or loudspeaker.
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Track
To leave marks made of (dirt or mud, for example) on a surface
The dog tracked mud on the rug.
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Monitor
(computing) A program for viewing and editing.
A machine code monitor
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Track
To leave marks on (a floor, for example) when moving or traversing
You're tracking up my nice clean floor!.
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Monitor
A student leader in a class.
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Track
To observe or monitor the course of (an aircraft, for example), as by radar.
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Monitor
(nautical) One of a class of relatively small armored warships with only one or two turrets (but often carrying unusually large guns for a warship of its size), usually designed for shore bombardment or riverine warfare rather than open-ocean combat. from 1862
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Track
To observe the progress of; follow
Tracking the company's performance daily.
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Monitor
(archaic) An ironclad.
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Track
To determine or discover the location or origin of
Tracked the money to an offshore account.
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Monitor
A monitor lizard.
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Track
To equip with a track.
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Monitor
(obsolete) One who admonishes; one who warns of faults, informs of duty, or gives advice and instruction by way of reproof or caution.
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Track
To assign (a student) to a curricular track.
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Monitor
(engineering) A tool holder, as for a lathe, shaped like a low turret, and capable of being revolved on a vertical pivot so as to bring the several tools successively into position.
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Track
To follow a course; travel
The storm is tracking up the coast.
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Monitor
A monitor nozzle.
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Track
To keep a constant distance apart. Used of a pair of wheels.
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Monitor
(transitive) To watch over; to guard.
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Track
To be in alignment
The gears are not tracking properly.
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Monitor
One who admonishes; one who warns of faults, informs of duty, or gives advice and instruction by way of reproof or caution.
You need not be a monitor to the king.
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Track
To follow the undulations in the groove of a phonograph record. Used of a needle.
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Monitor
Hence, specifically, a pupil selected to look to the school in the absence of the instructor, to notice the absence or faults of the scholars, or to instruct a division or class.
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Track
To move across magnetic heads. Used of magnetic tape.
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Monitor
Any large Old World lizard of the genus Varanus; esp., the Egyptian species (Varanus Niloticus), which is useful because it devours the eggs and young of the crocodile. It is sometimes five or six feet long.
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Track
To move in relation to a subject being filmed. Used of a camera or camera crew.
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Monitor
An ironclad war vessel, very low in the water, and having one or more heavily-armored revolving turrets, carrying heavy guns.
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Track
A mark left by something that has passed along.
Follow the track of the ship.
Can you see any tracks in the snow?
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Monitor
A tool holder, as for a lathe, shaped like a low turret, and capable of being revolved on a vertical pivot so as to bring successively the several tools in holds into proper position for cutting.
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Track
A mark or impression left by the foot, either of man or animal.
The fox tracks were still visible in the snow.
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Monitor
A monitor nozzle.
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Track
The entire lower surface of the foot; said of birds, etc.
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Monitor
Display consisting of a device that takes signals from a computer and displays them on a CRT screen
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Track
A road or other similar beaten path.
Follow the track for a hundred metres.
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Monitor
Someone who supervises (an examination)
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Track
Physical course; way.
Astronomers predicted the track of the comet.
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Monitor
Someone who gives a warning so that a mistake can be avoided
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Track
A path or course laid out for a race, for exercise, etc.
The athletes ran round the track.
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Monitor
An iron-clad vessel built by Federal forces to do battle with the Merrimac
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Track
The direction and progress of someone or something; path.
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Monitor
Electronic equipment that is used to check the quality or content of electronic transmissions
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Track
(railways) The way or rails along which a train moves. Category:en:Rail transportation
They briefly closed the railway to remove debris found on the track.
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Monitor
A piece of electronic equipment that keeps track of the operation of a system continuously and warns of trouble
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Track
A tract or area, such as of land.
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Monitor
Any of various large tropical carnivorous lizards of Africa and Asia and Australia; fabled to warn of crocodiles
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Track
(slang) The street, as a prostitute's place of work.
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Monitor
Keep tabs on; keep an eye on; keep under surveillance
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Track
Awareness of something, especially when arising from close monitoring.
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Monitor
To observe something regularly.
Doctors will monitor the patient's condition closely.
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Track
(automotive) The distance between two opposite wheels on a same axletree.
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Monitor
A device showing data or video display.
The computer monitor displays the graphics clearly.
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Track
(automotive) caterpillar track
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Track
(cricket) The pitch.
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Track
Sound stored on a record.
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Track
The physical track on a record.
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Track
(music) A song or other relatively short piece of music, on a record, separated from others by a short silence.
My favourite track on the album is "Sunshine".
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Track
A circular (never-ending) data storage unit on a side of magnetic or optical disk, divided into sectors.
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Track
The racing events of track and field; track and field in general.
I'm going to try out for track next week.
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Track
A themed set of talks within a conference.
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Track
Clipping of trackshoe
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Track
To continue over time.
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Track
(transitive) To observe the (measured) state of a person or object over time.
We will track the raven population over the next six months.
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Track
(transitive) To monitor the movement of a person or object.
Agent Miles has been tracking the terrorist since Madrid.
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Track
(transitive) To match the movement or change of a person or object.
My height tracks my father's at my age, so I might end up as tall as him.
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Track
To travel so that a moving object remains in shot.
The camera tracked the ball even as the field of play moved back and forth, keeping the action in shot the entire time.
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Track
To move.
The hurricane tracked further west than expected.
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Track
(transitive) To traverse; to move across.
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Track
(transitive) To tow.
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Track
(intransitive) To exhibit good cognitive function.
Is the patient tracking? Does he know where he is?
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Track
(transitive) To follow the tracks of.
My uncle spent all day tracking the deer, whose hoofprints were clear in the mud.
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Track
(transitive) To discover the location of a person or object by following traces.
I tracked Joe to his friend's bedroom, where he had spent the night.
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Track
(transitive) To make tracks on or to leave in the form of tracks.
In winter, my cat tracks mud all over the house.
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Track
To create a musical recording (a track).
Lil Kyle is gonna track with that DJ next week.
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Track
To create music using tracker software.
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Track
To make sense; to be consistent with known information
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Track
A mark left by something that has passed along; as, the track, or wake, of a ship; the track of a meteor; the track of a sled or a wheel.
The bright track of his fiery car.
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Track
A mark or impression left by the foot, either of man or beast; trace; vestige; footprint.
Far from track of men.
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Track
The entire lower surface of the foot; - said of birds, etc.
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Track
A road; a beaten path.
Behold Torquatus the same track pursue.
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Track
Course; way; as, the track of a comet.
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Track
A path or course laid out for a race, for exercise, etc.
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Track
The permanent way; the rails.
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Track
A tract or area, as of land.
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Track
To follow the tracks or traces of; to pursue by following the marks of the feet; to trace; to trail; as, to track a deer in the snow.
It was often found impossible to track the robbers to their retreats among the hills and morasses.
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Track
To draw along continuously, as a vessel, by a line, men or animals on shore being the motive power; to tow.
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Track
A line or route along which something travels or moves;
The hurricane demolished houses in its path
The track of an animal
The course of the river
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Track
Evidence pointing to a possible solution;
The police are following a promising lead
The trail led straight to the perpetrator
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Track
A pair of parallel rails providing a runway for wheels
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Track
A course over which races are run
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Track
A distinct selection of music from a recording or a compact disc;
He played the first cut on the cd
The title track of the album
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Track
An endless metal belt on which tracked vehicles move over the ground
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Track
(computer science) one of the circular magnetic paths on a magnetic disk that serve as a guide for writing and reading data
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Track
A groove on a phonograph recording
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Track
A bar or bars of rolled steel making a track along which vehicles can roll
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Track
Any road or path affording passage especially a rough one
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Track
The act of participating in an athletic competition involving running on a track
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Track
Carry on the feet and deposit;
Track mud into the house
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Track
Observe or plot the moving path of something;
Track a missile
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Track
Go after with the intent to catch;
The policeman chased the mugger down the alley
The dog chased the rabbit
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Track
Travel across or pass over;
The caravan covered almost 100 miles each day
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Track
Make tracks upon
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Track
To follow the movement or progress of something.
You can track your order using this number.
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Track
To record or note a series of events or activities.
She tracks her daily expenses meticulously.
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Track
A particular section of a song or piece of music.
My favorite track on the album is the third one.
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Track
To trace or determine the course of something.
The detective tracked the thief's movements.
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Common Curiosities
What's the main focus when tracking something?
The main focus of tracking is to follow the movement or progress of something over time.
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How does monitoring differ in emphasis from tracking?
Monitoring emphasizes vigilance and the present moment, while tracking emphasizes a span of time or movement.
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Can "Track" refer to a physical path?
Yes, "Track" can refer to a path or course for running, racing, or traveling.
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Can "Monitor" and "Track" be used interchangeably?
While they sometimes overlap, "Monitor" often emphasizes current status, and "Track" emphasizes progression.
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Is "Monitor" only a verb?
No, "Monitor" can be both a verb (to observe) and a noun (a device displaying data).
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If I'm following a package's delivery status, am I tracking or monitoring it?
You are tracking it, as you're following its movement or progress.
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What's a common device associated with the word "Monitor"?
A common device is a computer monitor, which displays data or video imagery.
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Does "Monitor" always imply immediate action if there's an issue?
While not always, "Monitor" often carries a nuance of vigilance, suggesting potential action if anomalies arise.
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Can "Track" refer to recording data over time?
Yes, "Track" can involve recording or noting data, events, or activities over a span of time.
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What might you monitor in a medical setting?
In a medical setting, you might monitor vitals, symptoms, or patient responses to treatment.
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Written by
Tayyaba RehmanTayyaba Rehman is a distinguished writer, currently serving as a primary contributor to askdifference.com. As a researcher in semantics and etymology, Tayyaba's passion for the complexity of languages and their distinctions has found a perfect home on the platform. Tayyaba delves into the intricacies of language, distinguishing between commonly confused words and phrases, thereby providing clarity for readers worldwide.
