track vs trail

track

verb
  • To traverse; to move across. 

  • To create music using tracker software. 

  • To make sense; to be consistent with known information 

  • To monitor the movement of a person or object. 

  • To create a musical recording (a track). 

  • To exhibit good cognitive function. 

  • To discover the location of a person or object by following traces. 

  • To make tracks on or to leave in the form of tracks. 

  • To tow. 

  • To match the movement or change of a person or object. 

  • To travel so that a moving object remains in shot. 

  • To follow the tracks of. 

  • To move. 

  • To observe the (measured) state of a person or object over time. 

noun
  • A path or course laid out for a race, for exercise, etc. 

  • The distance between two opposite wheels on a same axletree. 

  • Physical course; way. 

  • The entire lower surface of the foot; said of birds, etc. 

  • The pitch. 

  • A road or other similar beaten path. 

  • The direction and progress of someone or something; path. 

  • Awareness of something, especially when arising from close monitoring. 

  • A tract or area, such as of land. 

  • A song or other relatively short piece of music, on a record, separated from others by a short silence. 

  • The street, as a prostitute's place of work. 

  • A circular (never-ending) data storage unit on a side of magnetic or optical disk, divided into sectors. 

  • A themed set of talks within a conference. 

  • A mark or impression left by the foot, either of man or animal. 

  • The way or rails along which a train moves. 

  • Sound stored on a record. 

  • The physical track on a record. 

  • A mark left by something that has passed along. 

  • The racing events of track and field; track and field in general. 

trail

verb
  • To travel by following or creating trails. 

  • To show a trailer of (a film, TV show etc.); to release or publish a preview of (a report etc.) in advance of the full publication. 

  • To run or climb like certain plants. 

  • To be losing, to be behind in a competition. 

  • To leave (a trail of). 

  • To carry (a firearm) with the breech near the ground and the upper part inclined forward, the piece being held by the right hand near the middle. 

  • To transport (livestock) by herding it along a trail. 

  • To hang or drag loosely behind; to move with a slow sweeping motion. 

  • To follow behind (someone or something); to tail (someone or something). 

  • To drag oneself lazily or reluctantly along. 

  • To drag (something) behind on the ground. 

  • To create a trail in. 

noun
  • A trailer broadcast on television for a forthcoming film or programme. 

  • The track or indication marking the route followed by something that has passed, such as the footprints of animal on land or the contrail of an airplane in the sky. 

  • A walk in which all the edges are distinct. 

  • A route for travel over land, especially a narrow, unpaved pathway for use by hikers, horseback riders, etc. 

  • A route or circuit generally. 

  • The horizontal distance from where the wheel touches the ground to where the steering axis intersects the ground. 

How often have the words track and trail occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )