horse race
Americannoun
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a contest of speed among horses that either are ridden by jockeys or pull sulkies and their drivers.
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any formidable contest or competition.
The primary election is expected to be a horse race among four opponents.
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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.
Winning the Derby changes anyone’s life, but it’s magnified when you make history, as DeVaux did by becoming the first female trainer to win the world’s most famous horse race.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2026
It’s still unclear who is winning the horse race, as there has been no public polling yet.
From Salon ● Jun. 4, 2026
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
Political pundits predict a three horse race between Labour, Green and Reform.
From BBC ● Feb. 17, 2026
It was officially the second-largest crowd ever to attend a horse race in America, but because the record tally, at the Kentucky Derby, was famously exaggerated, the attendance at this hundred-grander was undoubtedly the largest.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
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.
