caucus race
The competitive process in which a political party selects their candidate, especially presidential; a primary election via caucus.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“The candidates are busy preparing for the caucus race.”
“Many voters pay close attention to the early states because they often decide the winner of the caucus race.”
“Local organizers are setting up gymnasiums and community centers across the state to host the first official caucus race of the season.”
“Political analysts spent weeks debating which candidate possessed the necessary momentum to emerge victorious from the grueling and unpredictable caucus race.”
From caucus (“regular party committee meeting of elected MPs”) + race (“contest between people”); a reference to Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, chapter III "A Caucus-Race and a Long Tale", being a nonsensical satire thereof: all participants have to run in circles until an arbitrary end is called and everyone is declared a winner; Alice has to give prizes to them all, and being declared a winner too, the Dodo solemnly takes her thimble and awards it back to her.
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no horse in this race
No vested interest in the outcome of a contest or debate.
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one-horse race
An election campaign or other competitive situation in which only one competitor is entered or in which only one competitor has a realistic chance of winning.
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play the race card
To assert that race or racism is involved in a situation, especially in order to exploit racist or antiracist attitudes.
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race against time
A situation in which something must be done hurriedly, before a deadline.
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race of truth
A time trial.
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race out of the traps
To start something very quickly.
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race queen
A glamorous model accompanying the pit crew in Japanese motor racing.
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race riot
A riot arising from interracial conflict.
Last updated August 10, 2026