track down
Find after searching
To track down is to find something or someone after a persistent search, often when they're hidden, elusive, or hard to locate.
The phrase evokes following a trail: Police tracked down the suspect after a three-week manhunt.
It applies equally to information, objects, or people: I finally tracked down a copy of that album, She tracked down her birth mother.
Rapid following of quarry
- followGo behind another
- tailRear animal appendage
- shadowLight blocked by object
- trailPath through wilderness
stalk · hound · hunt · seek · capture · apprehend · nab · corner
chase
Rapid following of quarry
trail · stalk · hound · hunt · seek · capture · apprehend · nab · corner · fugitive
locate
Discover the position of
address · whereabouts · missing · lost · database · archive · records · directory · registry · reconnect
detective
Professional crime investigator
forensics · inquiry · probe · case · solve · deduce · interrogate · witness · suspect · lead
- root outroot out, flush out, ferret out, smoke out, weed out
- discoveryfind, finding, discovery, discover, finding out
- investigatinginvestigate, examine, inspect, probe, search
- pursuitchase, chasing, pursuit, pursue, pursuing
- houndhound, pester, badger, harass, hassle
- obtainingget, obtain, acquire, gain, procure
track downstumble upon
Find unexpectedly
stumble across · happen upon · chance upon · come across · run into
track downcover one's tracks
Eliminate signs of involvement
hide · conceal · go into hiding · evade · elude
down, track, trace, tracks, tracking, tracked, retrace, tracker, trackless