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🔍 To find after searching 🐾 To hunt animals
to track down

to track down

9 4.6
To follow wild animals until you catch or kill them
  • phrasal verb
  • /træk daʊn/
translation icon : cazar
  • The wildlife photographer spent weeks trying to track down the rare bird in its natural habitat.

Examples

  • Duluth fire and police crews helped zoo staff track down animals.

    Blog text (13)

  • He was often hired to track down and kill man eating tigers and lions in Asia and in Africa.

  • Sail the seven seas and track down wild game.

    Texas, Brooklyn & Heaven (1948)

  • If you have hunting dogs, they're supposed to track down a fox by their sense of smell.

  • The male lion tracks down females in estrus by smelling their urine over vast areas, and the first male that finds the female will mate with her.

    Academic text (2006)

  • Hunters often have to track down deer in the dense forest to fill their tags.

  • With his keen sense of smell, the hound was able to track down the elusive rabbit.

Synonyms

to hunt
vsto track down
367 1.4

To chase and kill wild animals for food or sport

stresses continuous following until capture rather than general pursuit
to trail
vsto track down
50 2.5

Follow someone closely to try to catch them

adds the idea of hunting wild animals until they are caught or killed
to run down
vsto track down
13 4.1

To follow and catch a person, animal or vehicle

applies this pursuit specifically to wild animals until capture or death
to give chase
vsto track down
11 4.1

Start running after someone or something to catch them

differs by indicating the chase start rather than the full pursuit to capture
to hunt down
vsto track down
6 4.0

Chase and take wild animals for food or sport

keeps following animals until they are caught or killed
to stalk its prey
vsto track down
6 6.6

To move quietly and carefully toward an animal to catch it by surprise

focuses on sustained following until capture or death rather than only stealth
to chase after
vsto track down
4 1.9

To run after someone or something to catch them

implies patient following until an animal is caught or killed, not just a chase
to still-hunt
vsto track down
  • Jargon
1 9.8

To move quietly and try to catch an animal by surprise

is broader, involving ongoing following until the animal is caught or killed
pursuing
vsto track down
3.2

Following someone to try to catch them

narrows this following to catching wild animals rather than general tailing
to search for prey
vsto track down
5.0

To look for animals to hunt and eat

includes both the search and the continued following until capture or death

Antonyms

to release
∞ 1.8

To let someone or something go free from being held

How Persistent

to track down
9 4.6
hunt
150 1.4
to pursue
∞ 3.5
to trail
50 2.5
to follow
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

track down infinitive
tracked down past
tracked down past participle
tracking down present participle
tracks down third person singular

Morphology

track + down

The verb 'track' means 'to follow' and the particle 'down' contributes a resultative/completive sense (i.e. follow until you locate), so the combined meaning 'search for and find after effort' is directly derivable from the constituents. This aligns with common English phrasal-verb composition patterns and would be understandable to a B1 learner who knows the individual words.

Etymology

The verb track down comes from hunting: hunters would follow an animal's track, its footprints, and then bring it down when they caught it, so the phrase meant 'to chase and catch' the animal.