TRACT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does tract mean? 

• TRACT (noun)
  The noun TRACT has 4 senses:

1. an extended area of land

2. a system of body parts that together serve some particular purpose

3. a brief treatise on a subject of interest; published in the form of a booklet

4. a bundle of myelinated nerve fibers following a path through the brain

  Familiarity information: TRACT used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• TRACT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An extended area of land

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Synonyms:

parcel; parcel of land; piece of ground; piece of land; tract

Hypernyms ("tract" is a kind of...):

geographic area; geographic region; geographical area; geographical region (a demarcated area of the Earth)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "tract"):

parade ground (an area for holding parades)

yard (a tract of land where logs are accumulated)

fairground (an open area for holding fairs or exhibitions or circuses)

midway (the place at a fair or carnival where sideshows and similar amusements are located)

fairway (a tract of ground free of obstacles to movement)

park; parkland (a large area of land preserved in its natural state as public property)

common; commons; green; park (a piece of open land for recreational use in an urban area)

picnic area; picnic ground (a tract of land set aside for picnicking)

public square; square (an open area at the meeting of two or more streets)

toll plaza (an area where tollbooths are located)

range (a large tract of grassy open land on which livestock can graze)

sector (a portion of a military position)

land site; site (the piece of land on which something is located (or is to be located))

subdivision (an area composed of subdivided lots)

mine field (a tract of land containing explosive mines)

terrain (a piece of ground having specific characteristics or military potential)

patch; plot; plot of ground; plot of land (a small area of ground covered by specific vegetation)

lot (a parcel of land having fixed boundaries)

yard (a tract of land enclosed for particular activities (sometimes paved and usually associated with buildings))

battlefield; battleground; field; field of battle; field of honor (a region where a battle is being (or has been) fought)

baseball diamond; diamond; infield (the area of a baseball field that is enclosed by 3 bases and home plate)

center; center field; centerfield (the piece of ground in the outfield directly ahead of the catcher)

left; left field; leftfield (the piece of ground in the outfield on the catcher's left)

outfield (the area of a baseball playing field beyond the lines connecting the bases)

right; right field; rightfield (the piece of ground in the outfield on the catcher's right)

short (the location on a baseball field where the shortstop is stationed)

railway yard; railyard; yard (an area having a network of railway tracks and sidings for storage and maintenance of cars and engines)

desert (arid land with little or no vegetation)

oasis (a fertile tract in a desert (where the water table approaches the surface))

mud flat (a tract of low muddy land near an estuary; covered at high tide and exposed at low tide)

minefield (a region in which explosives mines have been placed)

breeding ground (a place where animals breed)

clearing; glade (a tract of land with few or no trees in the middle of a wooded area)

field (a piece of land cleared of trees and usually enclosed)

field of fire (the area that a weapon or group of weapons can cover effectively with gun fire from a given position)

grounds (a tract of land cleared for some special purposes (recreation or burial etc.))

athletic field; field; playing area; playing field (a piece of land prepared for playing a game)

industrial park (a tract of land at a distance from city center that is designed for a cluster of businesses and factories)

grassland (land where grass or grasslike vegetation grows and is the dominant form of plant life)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A system of body parts that together serve some particular purpose

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Hypernyms ("tract" is a kind of...):

system (a group of physiologically or anatomically related organs or parts)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "tract"):

airway; respiratory tract (the passages through which air enters and leaves the body)

urinary tract (the organs and tubes involved in the production and excretion of urine)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A brief treatise on a subject of interest; published in the form of a booklet

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

pamphlet; tract

Hypernyms ("tract" is a kind of...):

treatise (a formal exposition)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A bundle of myelinated nerve fibers following a path through the brain

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Synonyms:

nerve pathway; nerve tract; pathway; tract

Hypernyms ("tract" is a kind of...):

substantia alba; white matter (whitish nervous tissue of the CNS consisting of neurons and their myelin sheaths)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "tract"):

commissure (a bundle of nerve fibers passing from one side to the other of the brain or spinal cord)

cerebral peduncle; peduncle (a bundle of myelinated neurons joining different parts of the brain)

optic radiation; radiatio optica (a nerve pathway from the lateral geniculate body to the visual cortex)

 Context examples 

The second step specifically, which translates vocal tract maps into synthetic sounds, appears to be generalizable across patients.

(Scientists translate brain signals into speech sounds, National Institutes of Health)

Our digestive tracts are home to trillions of microbes—including bacteria, fungi, and viruses.

(Infant gut microbes linked to allergy, asthma risk, NIH)

Our digestive tracts are home to trillions of microbes, including bacteria, fungi, and viruses.

(Food additives promote inflammation, colon cancer in mice, National Institutes of Health)

The digestive tract is home to 100 trillion bacteria.

(Food Additives Alter Gut Microbes, Cause Diseases in Mice, NIH)

Abnormal malignant growth of cells in the urethra (lower urinary tract)that has spread either into adjacent tissue or to a distant site.

(Metastatic Neoplasm of the Urethra, NCI Thesaurus)

Abnormal malignant growth of cells in the ureter (upper urinary tract)that has progressed to involve other areas of the body.

(Metastatic Neoplasm of the Ureter, NCI Thesaurus)

Usually, it is a result of cAMP-mediated triggered activity and typically originates from the right ventricular outflow tract.

(Adenosine-Sensitive Ventricular Tachycardia by ECG Finding, NCI Thesaurus)

A. urinae is found in the urinary tract and is associated with urinary tract infections, sepsis, and endocarditis.

(Aerococcus urinae, NCI Thesaurus)

An agent that exerts an effect on metabolism or any anatomic entity that is part of the gastrointestinal tract.

(Agent Affecting Digestive System or Metabolism, NCI Thesaurus)

They include the oral cavity, sinonasal tract, pharynx, pyriform sinus, larynx, trachea, and esophagus.

(Aerodigestive tract, NCI Thesaurus)