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race riot

American

noun

a riot resulting from animosity or tensions between racial or ethnic groups.

race riot British

noun

a riot among members of different races in the same community

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of race riot

An Americanism dating back to 1885–90

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.

In 1833, Detroit was devastated by a race riot sparked by a dispute over escaped enslaved people, and loopholes in antislavery provisions abounded.

From Washington Post • Dec. 7, 2022

Malaysian social media users on Monday reported a slew of posts on short video platform TikTok after the election that mentioned a deadly race riot in Kuala Lumpur on May 13, 1969.

From Reuters • Nov. 22, 2022

Some students also mentioned the Tulsa race riot.

From New York Times • May 25, 2021

Hoover called for investigation into “radical activity” again after a race riot in Omaha, Nebraska, on Sept. 28, 1919, but “none could be found,” Ellis writes.

From Slate • Jul. 19, 2019

The Negro in Chicago; a study of race relations and a race riot in 1919.

From The Negro in the United States; a selected bibliography. Compiled by Dorothy B. Porter by Porter, Dorothy B.

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023