track down

verb

"track-down" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“track down” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
10
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To hunt for or locate; to search for; to find.

Corpus desk

Index EN-track-down · track down · English

track down · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "T" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for track down
PropertyValue
Headwordtrack down
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
Letters10
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “track down” in English

track downsits beyond the 100,000 most-frequent English words, in the long tail of technical, archaic, or otherwise rare vocabulary where spelling doubt tends to strike hardest.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

track down is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for track down, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct English form is track down, spelled T-R-A-C-K- -D-O-W-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    To hunt for or locate; to search for; to find.
  2. 2
    Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see track, down.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how track down appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. I need to track down a computer so I can check my e-mails.
  2. Baby, I know places we won't be found, and They'll be chasing their tails trying to track us down

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "track down"?
"track down" is spelled T-R-A-C-K- -D-O-W-N.
What does "track down" mean?
As a verb, "track down" means: To hunt for or locate; to search for; to find.
What language does "track down" come from?
"track down" is a English word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list