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.
But the annual horse race that is Oscars season, with movie stars and filmmakers jockeying for glory, has surged in activity.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 12, 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
Still, the leadership change, announced in early October, was abrupt for a company that conducted a multiyear horse race before appointing Vestberg.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 14, 2025
Swinney later denied his "two horse race" comment was an attempt to eat into Labour's vote by spotlighting Reform.
From BBC • Jun. 8, 2025
Oh yes, there were plenty to aid and abet him; even he could not have held a horse race without someone to race against.
From "Absalom, Absalom!" by William Faulkner
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.
