What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Road vs Track - What's the difference?

road | track | Synonyms |

Track is a synonym of road.



As nouns the difference between road and track

is that road is the act of riding on horseback while track is 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.

As a verb track is

to observe the (measured) state of an object over time.

road

English

(wikipedia road)

Noun

(en noun)
  • (obsolete) The act of riding on horseback.
  • (obsolete) A hostile ride against a particular area; a raid.
  • * 1596 , (Edmund Spenser), The Faerie Queene , VI.8:
    • There dwelt a salvage nation, which did live / Of stealth and spoile, and making nightly rode / Into their neighbours borders […].
  • (nautical, often, in the plural) A partly sheltered area of water near a shore in which vessels may ride at anchor.
  • * 1630 , , True Travels , in Kupperman 1988, p. 38:
    • There delivering their fraught, they went to Scandaroone; rather to view what ships was in the Roade , than any thing else [...].
  • A way used for travelling between places, originally one wide enough to allow foot passengers and horses to travel, now usually one surfaced with asphalt or concrete and designed to accommodate many vehicles travelling in both directions.
  • * {{quote-book, 1852, Mrs M.A. Thompson, chapter=The Tutor's Daughter, Graham's American Monthly Magazine of Literature, Art, and Fashion, page=266 citation
    • , passage=In the lightness of my heart I sang catches of songs as my horse gayly bore me along the well-remembered road .}}
  • * , chapter=1
    • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients, chapter=1 , passage=I stumbled along through the young pines and huckleberry bushes. Pretty soon I struck into a sort of path that, I cal'lated, might lead to the road I was hunting for.}}
  • (figuratively) A path chosen in life or career.
  • * Ronald Reagan: A Time for Choosing (1964).
    • Where, then, is the road to peace?
  • * {{quote-news, year=2012, date=September 7, author=Phil McNulty, work=BBC Sport
    • , tiutle= Moldova 0-5 England , passage=Hodgson may actually feel England could have scored even more but this was the perfect first step on the road to Rio in 2014 and the ideal platform for the second qualifier against Ukraine at Wembley on Tuesday.}}
  • An underground tunnel in a mine.
  • (US) A railway; (British) a single railway track.
  • (obsolete) A journey, or stage of a journey.
  • * Shakespeare
    • With easy roads he came to Leicester.

    Usage notes

    Often used interchangeably with street or other similar words. When usage is distinguished, a road is a route between settlements (reflecting the etymological relation with ride), as in the from London to Edinburgh, while a street is a route within a settlement (city or town), strictly speaking paved.

    Hyponyms

    * See also

    Derived terms

    * A road, A-road * access road * all roads lead to Rome * B road * back road * bump in the road * burn up the road * byroad * C road * corduroy road * crossroad * down the road * end of the road * fork in the road * frontage road * Great North road * highroad/high road * hit the road * ice road * low road * main road * middle of the road/middle-of-the-road * nonroad * offroad/off-road * on the road * one for the road * pay-per-use road * Persian Royal Road * railroad * ring road * road allowance * road apple * road case * road export * road fund licence * road gang * road hockey * road hog/road-hog * road map * road movie * road race * road rage * road rash * road sign * road to Damascus * road train * road trip * road warrior * roadability * roadbase * roadbed * roadblock * roader * roadhouse * roadie * roadkill * roadless * roadness * roadroller * roadrunner * roadshow * roadside * roadstead * roadster * roadway * roadwork * roadworks * roadworthy * rocky road * service road * slip road/sliproad * take the high road * Tobacco Road * trunk road * where the rubber meets the road * winter road * yellow brick road/Yellow Brick Road

    Statistics

    *

    Anagrams

    * * 1000 English basic words ----

    track

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • 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.
  • A mark or impression left by the foot, either of man or beast; trace; vestige; footprint.
  • The entire lower surface of the foot; said of birds, etc.
  • A road; a beaten path.
  • Course; way; as, the track of a comet.
  • A path or course laid out for a race, for exercise, etc.
  • *
    • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=4 , passage=The Celebrity, by arts unknown, induced Mrs. Judge Short and two other ladies to call at Mohair on an afternoon when Mr. Cooke was trying a trotter on the track . The three returned wondering and charmed with Mrs. Cooke; they were sure she had had no hand in the furnishing of that atrocious house.}}
  • (railways) The permanent way; the rails.
  • A tract or area, as of land.
  • * Fuller
    • small tracks of ground
  • (automotive) The distance between two opposite wheels on a same axletree (also track width)
  • (automotive) Short for caterpillar track.
  • (cricket) The pitch.
  • Sound stored on a record.
  • The physical track on a record.
  • (music) A song or other relatively short piece of music, on a record, separated from others by a short silence
  • Circular (never-ending) data storage unit on a side of magnetic or optical disk, divided into sectors.
  • (uncountable, sports) The racing events of track and field; track and field in general.
  • A session talk on a conference.

    • Synonyms

    * (mark left by something that has passed along) trace, trail, wake * (mark or impression left by the foot) footprint * (entire lower surface of the foot) * path, road, way * (course) course, path, trajectory, way * course, racetrack * (the permanent way) rails, railway, train tracks, tracks * (tract or area) area, parcel, region, tract * (distance between two opposite wheels) track width * ground, pitch * (sound stored on a record) recording * (physical track on a record) groove * (circular data storage unit on a side of magnetic or optical disk) * (track and field) athletics, track and field

    Derived terms

    * * album track * beaten track * fast track * half-track * half-tracker * lose track * mid-track * mommy track * off the beaten track * on the right track * on track * one-track mind * railroad track * railway track * reserved track * tenure-track * title track * track and field * trackball * track-mounted * trackpad * track record * track spike * track width * train track * tram track

    Related terms

    * (distance between two opposite wheels) wheelbase : the distance between the front and rear axles of a vehicle.

    See also

    * path * trail

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To observe the (measured) state of an object over time
  • To monitor the movement of a person or object.
  • To discover the location of a person or object (usually in the form track down ).
  • To follow the tracks of.
    • My uncle spent all day tracking the deer.
  • To leave in the form of tracks.
    • In winter, my cat tracks mud all over the house.

    Synonyms

    * (observe the state of an object over time) monitor * (monitor the movement of a person or object) follow * (discover the location of a person or object) find, locate, trace, track down

    Derived terms

    * track down * tracking shot

    Related terms

    * tracker