horse race
Americannoun
-
a contest of speed among horses that either are ridden by jockeys or pull sulkies and their drivers.
-
any formidable contest or competition.
The primary election is expected to be a horse race among four opponents.
Other Word Forms
- horse racing noun
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
U.A.E. media circulated videos of royal family members and government officials walking through shopping malls and enjoying themselves at a horse race even as missiles and drones continued to fly in.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 4, 2026
As a youngster, Aswat looked up to Khadijah Mellah - the first British Muslim woman to win a horse race in Britain.
From BBC • Feb. 10, 2026
Media outlets, including Barron’s, cited the shifting odds as the process began to resemble a horse race.
From Barron's • Feb. 2, 2026
Theirs may be a horse race of inches, but it is a horse race nonetheless.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 3, 2024
As we become fluent readers we file away in memory tens of thousands of common word pairs, such as horse race, hunt ducks, cotton clothing, fat people, prime number, old man, and data point.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
