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.

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rat race British  

noun

1. a continual routine of hectic competitive activity

   working in the City is a real rat race

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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]

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Etymology

Origin of rat race

An Americanism dating back to 1935–40

Example Sentences

“Maybe what I need to do is just celebrate all I’ve done instead of getting back into this rat race, on this treadmill, and look for something totally different,” he said.

From Los Angeles Times

My mom and stepdad wanted a deeper connection with the earth and to get away from the rat race.

From The Wall Street Journal

“We’ve left the rat race and false people behind,” he said.

From Los Angeles Times

China’s industrial rat race helped power the country’s economic miracle.

From The Wall Street Journal

Despite the show's heist element, Madekwe says it has "such a relatable story of feeling trapped in a rat race".

From BBC