track down

track down — phrasal verb

  • track downbase form
  • tracks down3rd person singular
  • tracking down-ing form
  • tracked downpast simple

1. to succeed in finding a person, animal, or thing after making a careful and dete

1.片語動詞及物B2
釋義

to succeed in finding a person, animal, or thing after making a careful and determined effort to work out where they are — for example, a detective finding a missing person, or a collector finding a rare item that has been hard to get.

例句

Mira tracked down her missing cat at the animal shelter three kilometres from home.

separable phrasal verb: track + noun/pronoun + down

Yasmin tracked down the perfect wedding dress after visiting fifteen different shops.

track down + noun; context: effort through multiple attempts

同義詞
  • locate

    more formal; suggests finding the exact position of something

  • trace

    focuses on following evidence or clues step by step

  • hunt down

    more intense and often implies pursuing someone who does not want to be found

反義詞

文法句型

track + noun/pronoun + down

track down + noun

用法筆記

Object can go between 'track' and 'down' or after 'down'. When the object is a pronoun (it, him, her, them), it must go between: 'tracked it down' (not 'tracked down it').

常見錯誤

❌I tracked down it after two days.
✅I tracked it down after two days.
💡With a pronoun object, the pronoun must come between 'track' and 'down'.
❌She tracked down after the thief.
✅She tracked the thief down.
💡The phrasal verb always needs an object; you cannot use it without one.