tracking

1. 1
   noununcountable

   The act or process of following something to learn where it is or how it changes.

   Wildlife tracking helped researchers map the herd's migration across the valley.

   Continuous tracking of the storm allowed forecasters to issue early warnings.

   Similarmonitoring, tracing, observation

   Note

   Beyond following animals or storms, the word stretches to the patient tracing of anything elusive, and it can be counted. Abraham C. Keller's The Telling of Tales in Rabelais (1963) praises scholars for "the trackings of his numerous references to persons, places, and things." The plural treats each piece of detective work as its own act. Followed by of, it names what is being pursued.

2. 2
   verb

   Present participle and gerund of track.

   Scientists are tracking the satellite as it orbits the planet.

   The agency has been tracking changes in sea temperature for decades.

   Note

   As a verb form it does two jobs. After be it builds the progressive (scientists are tracking the satellite), and as a gerund it fills a noun slot (tracking the satellite takes patience). The gerund keeps a direct object, while the noun of the process takes of: tracking the storm, but the tracking of the storm. Only the noun has a plural, trackings.

3. 3
   noununcountable

   The practice of splitting students into separately taught groups according to their judged ability level.

   Critics argue that tracking limits opportunities for students placed in lower groups.

   The school replaced tracking with mixed-ability classrooms last year.

   Similarstreaming

   Note

   Streaming names the same arrangement, and either word fits a school that sorts students into groups or curricular streams by assessed ability. The practice has long been debated for its effects on equity and overall attainment. That is why the word so often appears beside criticism and beside its usual alternative, the mixed-ability classroom.

4. 4
   noununcountable

   A uniform adjustment of the space between letters across a span of text; letterspacing.

   Loose tracking gave the heading an airy, open feel.

   She tightened the tracking on the caption to fit it on one line.

   Similarletterspacing, spacing

   Note

   Typesetters apply it once to a whole stretch of text, opening or closing every gap by the same amount. That evenness separates it from kerning, which adjusts the space between one particular pair of letters. Designers speak of tight or loose tracking. A common use is a small nudge that makes a line fit its space without changing the type size.

5. 5
   noununcountable

   The synchronization of two or more signals so that they stay aligned with one another.

   Precise tracking between the reference and output signals reduced timing errors.

   Engineers tested the tracking of the two oscillators under heavy load.

   Similarsynchronization, alignment

   Note

   Electrical engineering uses the word for two unrelated things, so context matters. Here it is about agreement: one signal follows another closely enough that the two stay in step, as when oscillators, or a reference and an output, are compared. Engineers speak of good or precise tracking between signals. The insulator-damage sense is a fault found on a surface, not a measure of how well signals agree.

6. 6
   noununcountable

   In electrical engineering, the development of paths that conduct current across an insulator's surface, caused by electrical discharges.

   Surface tracking left visible carbon trails across the insulator.

   Engineers inspected the bushing for signs of tracking after the fault.

   Note

   A failure mode rather than a measurement. Repeated small discharges across an insulator leave carbonized residue, and over time those traces join into a permanent conductive path that can eventually make the insulation fail outright. Inspectors look for its visible trails on bushings and insulators after a fault. The phrase surface tracking makes clear which sense is meant.

Showing meanings only. Show all 6