# race

/ˈɹeɪs/ (US) · /ɹˈeɪs/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/race
Updated: 2026-06-19

## Senses

### 1. speed competition

noun · CEFR A2

a competition to see who is the fastest at running, driving, or swimming.

For teachers: a contest of speed between runners, vehicles, or animals to determine who reaches a finish line first.

- She won the hundred-meter race by just a few seconds.
- The marathon is a gruelling race that tests both the physical endurance and the mental fortitude of the participants.

### 2. ethnic/social group

noun · CEFR B1

a group of people who share the same history, language, or physical features.

For teachers: a classification system used to categorise humans into large and distinct populations or groups by heritable phenotypic characteristics or social history.

- The census asks people to identify their race and ethnic background.
- Sociologists argue that race is a social construct rather than a purely biological category, though it has profound effects on lived experience.

### 3. fast water

noun · CEFR C2 · Technical

a very fast-moving current of water.

For teachers: a strong or rapid current of water in a river or the sea, or a channel specifically built to carry such a current.

- The old mill was powered by a fast-moving race of water from the river.
- The engineers designed a narrow race to divert the stream toward the turbine with maximum velocity.

### 4. to compete in speed

verb · CEFR A2

to take part in a competition of speed against others.

For teachers: to compete in a race; to engage in a contest of speed with a direct object or as an intransitive action.

- I will race you to the end of the street.
- The two professional drivers have raced against each other on circuits all over the world for over a decade.

### 5. to move very fast

verb · CEFR B1

to move or go somewhere very quickly because you are in a hurry.

For teachers: to move or progress at high speed; often used to describe a racing heart or mind.

- He had to race to the station to catch the last train.
- Her heart began to race as she stepped onto the stage to deliver the keynote address to the waiting crowd.

### 6. computing error

noun · CEFR C1 · Technical

a mistake in a computer program where two parts try to use the same data at once.

For teachers: a race condition; a flaw in a system or process where the output or result is unexpectedly dependent on the sequence or timing of other events.

- The software crashed because of a race between two different tasks.
- Debugging a race condition is notoriously difficult because the error only manifests under specific, often irreproducible, timing circumstances.

## Examples

- She won the hundred-meter race yesterday.
- The local community organizes a charity race every summer to raise money for the hospital.
- Despite a slow start in the first lap, the driver managed to overtake his rivals and win the race by a narrow margin.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.