track out

Meanings

1. 1verbintransitiveAmericaninformal

   To leave school at the end of a term or school year and begin a holiday.

   Grammar: No object is needed; the verb already includes the idea of leaving, so you simply say that students track out.

   Patterns

   • someone tracks out
   • someone tracks out for the summer
   • someone tracks out on Friday

   The children track out on Friday, so we have booked a week at the lake.

   When do your kids track out this year?

   We always plan our trip for the week after the students track out.

2. 2verbintransitiveAmericaninformal

   To finish a period of study at a school that organizes the year into short blocks.

   Grammar: Used without an object, usually in schools that run on a year-round calendar rather than a long summer break.

   Patterns

   • someone tracks out
   • someone tracks out in June
   • a class tracks out

   Her class tracks out in three weeks and returns in the middle of July.

   Because the school is year-round, the students track out every nine weeks.

   He tracked out last Monday and has already started his holiday.

3. 3verbintransitive

   To move away from a main route, path, or area and go somewhere else.

   Grammar: No object follows; the verb describes something or someone leaving a route, and it is often used with from.

   Patterns

   • something tracks out from something
   • tracks out into something
   • track out from the road

   A narrow trail tracks out from the car park toward the river.

   The storm tracked out into the Atlantic and lost its strength.

   Deer had tracked out across the fresh snow during the night.

Word forms

Common combinations

track out for the summer

The whole school tracks out for the summer at the end of June.

track out on Friday

They track out on Friday and go back in August.

students track out

In this district, students track out every few months.

track out from the road

The path tracks out from the road and climbs the hill.

track out into the ocean

The hurricane tracked out into the ocean overnight.

Synonyms and how they differ

break up

This is the usual British way to say that a school term ends, and it fits British writing better than track out.

finish

A general verb for reaching the end of something; it does not carry the school-holiday idea that track out has.

leave

Simply going away from a place; it is much broader and does not suggest a school calendar.

Opposites

Word family

track noun

A course or route, or a set of rails for trains.

tracking noun

The act of following or recording something over time, or the grouping of students.

tracked out adjective

Describing students who are currently on a school break.

Commonly confused: track out or tract? track out or track down?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “track out”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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