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[reys] /reɪs/

noun
1.
a contest of speed, as in running, riding, driving, or sailing.
2.
races, a series of races, usually of horses or dogs, run at a set time over a regular course:
They spent a day at the races.
3.
any contest or competition, especially to achieve superiority:
the arms race; the presidential race.
4.
urgent need, responsibility, effort, etc., as when time is short or a solution is imperative:
the race to find an effective vaccine.
5.
onward movement; an onward or regular course.
6.
the course of time.
7.
the course of life or a part of life.
8.
Geology.

9.
an artificial channel leading water to or from a place where its energy is utilized.
10.
the current of water in such a channel.
11.
Also called raceway. Machinery. a channel, groove, or the like, for sliding or rolling a part or parts, as the balls of a ball bearing.
12.
Textiles.

verb (used without object), raced, racing.
13.
to engage in a contest of speed; run a race.
14.
to run horses or dogs in races; engage in or practice or dog racing.
15.
to run, move, or go swiftly.
16.
(of an engine, wheel, etc.) to run with undue or uncontrolled speed when the load is diminished without corresponding diminution of fuel, force, etc.
verb (used with object), raced, racing.
17.
to run a race against; try to beat in a contest of speed:
I’ll race you to the water.
18.
to enter (a horse, car, track team, or the like) in a race or races.
19.
to cause to run, move, or go at high speed:
to race a motor.
/ˈreɪsɪŋ/
adjective
1.
denoting or associated with horse races: the racing fraternity, a racing man
noun
2.
the practice of engaging horses (or sometimes greyhounds) in contests of speed
/reɪs/
noun
1.
a contest of speed, as in running, swimming, driving, riding, etc
2.
any competition or rivalry: the race for the White House
3.
rapid or constant onward movement: the race of time
4.
a rapid current of water, esp one through a narrow channel that has a tidal range greater at one end than the other
5.
a channel of a stream, esp one for conducting water to or from a water wheel or other device for utilizing its energy: a mill race
6.

7.
(Austral & NZ) a narrow passage or enclosure in a sheep yard through which sheep pass individually, as to a sheep dip
8.
(Austral) a wire tunnel through which footballers pass from the changing room onto a football field
9.
(NZ) a line of containers coupled together, used in mining to transport coal
10.
another name for slipstream (sense 1)
11.
(archaic) the span or course of life
12.
(Austral, informal) not in the race, given or having no chance
verb
13.
to engage in a contest of speed with (another)
14.
to engage (oneself or one’s representative) in a race, esp as a profession or pastime: to race pigeons
15.
to move or go as fast as possible
16.
to run (an engine, shaft, propeller, etc) or (of an engine, shaft, propeller, etc) to run at high speed, esp after reduction of the load or resistance
/reɪs/
noun
1.
a group of people of common ancestry, distinguished from others by physical characteristics, such as hair type, colour of eyes and skin, stature, etc. Principal races are Caucasoid, Mongoloid, and Negroid
2.
the human race, human beings collectively
3.
a group of animals or plants having common characteristics that distinguish them from other members of the same species, usually forming a geographically isolated group; subspecies
4.
a group of people sharing the same interests, characteristics, etc: the race of authors
5.
(informal) play the race card, to introduce the subject of race into a public discussion, esp to gain a strategic advantage
/reɪs/
noun
1.
a ginger root
/reɪs/
noun
1.
Cape Race, a cape at the SE extremity of Newfoundland, Canada
n.

1670s, verbal noun from race (v.).
n.

“act of running,” c.1300, from Old Norse ras “running, rush (of water),” cognate with Old English ræs “a running, a rush, a leap, jump; a storming, an attack;” or else a survival of the Old English word with spelling influenced by the Old Norse one. The Norse and Old English words are from Proto-Germanic *res- (cf. Middle Dutch rasen “to rave, rage,” German rasen, Old English raesettan “to rage” (of fire)), from a variant form of PIE *ers- “be in motion” (see err). Originally a northern word, it became general in English c.1550. Meaning “act of running” is from early 14c. Meaning “contest of speed” first recorded 1510s.

“people of common descent,” a word from the 16th century, from Middle French race, earlier razza “race, breed, lineage, family” (16c.), possibly from Italian razza, of unknown origin (cf. Spanish and Portuguese raza). Etymologists say no connection with Latin radix “root,” though they admit this might have influenced the “tribe, nation” sense.

Original senses in English included “wines with characteristic flavor” (1520), “group of people with common occupation” (c.1500), and “generation” (1540s). Meaning “tribe, nation, or people regarded as of common stock” is by 1560s. Modern meaning of “one of the great divisions of mankind based on physical peculiarities” is from 1774 (though as OED points out, even among anthropologists there never has been an accepted classification of these).

Just being a Negro doesn’t qualify you to understand the race situation any more than being sick makes you an expert on medicine. [Dick Gregory, 1964]

In mid-20c. U.S. music catalogues, “Negro.” Klein suggests these derive from Arabic ra’s “head, beginning, origin” (cf. Hebrew rosh). Old English þeode meant both “race, folk, nation” and “language;” as a verb, geþeodan, it meant “to unite, to join.”

“strong current of water,” late 14c., perhaps a particular use of race (n.1), or from or influenced by Old French raz, which had a similar meaning, and which probably is from Breton raz “a strait, narrow channel;” this French source also may have given race its meaning of “channel of a stream” (especially an artificial one to a mill), which is recorded in English from 1560s.
v.

c.1200, rasen “to rush,” from a Scandinavian source akin to the source of race (n.1), reinforced by the noun in English and by Old English cognate ræsan “to rush headlong, hasten, enter rashly.” Meaning “run swiftly” is from 1757. Meaning “run in competition against” is from 1809. Transitive sense of “cause to run” is from 1860. In reference to an engine, etc., “run with uncontrolled speed,” from 1862. Related: Raced; racing.

race (rās)
n.

race
(rās)

Related Terms

drag race, horse race, rat race
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