rat race

American  

noun

Informal.

1. any exhausting, unremitting, and usually competitive activity or routine, especially a pressured urban working life spent trying to get ahead with little time left for leisure, contemplation, etc.

---

rat race British  

noun

1. a continual routine of hectic competitive activity

   working in the City is a real rat race

---

rat race Idioms  

1. Fierce competition to maintain or improve one's position in the workplace or social life. For example, You may not realize what a rat race it is to get research grants. This term presumably alludes to the rat's desperate struggle for survival. [Colloquial; first half of 1900s]

---

Etymology

Origin of rat race

An Americanism dating back to 1935–40

Example Sentences

But Dharmendra wore his stardom lightly, staying away from the rat race and said he never wanted to be number one in the industry.

From BBC

“This region is exploding with urbanites wanting to get out of the rat race,” said Chris Ligman, a building contractor in the city of Yucca Valley, about 120 miles northeast of Los Angeles.

From Los Angeles Times

The blocks opened at noon one day in a “rat race” style, with discounted rates, as Montes scrambled to get his $1,700 rate for five nights.

From Los Angeles Times

On Sunday, the New York rat race finally came to an end.

From Los Angeles Times

“I was just so heavily into the rat race.”

From New York Times