road race

American

[rohd reys] / ˈroʊd ˌreɪs /

noun

a race that is performed on paved roads.

State Street will be closed from noon to 5 p.m. for the running of the Governor’s Cup road race.
Last year’s champion driver appears to have lost this year’s Bordeaux-Paris road race.

Etymology

Origin of road race

First recorded in 1850–55

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.

See Examples For:

road race

Ethiopia's Yomif Kejelcha has broken the men's half marathon world record, winning a World Athletics road race in Buenos Aires on Sunday in 56 minutes 51 seconds.

From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026

Tarling's death is the first in a road race in 2026 and the full circumstances are yet to be disclosed.

From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026

Tour organizers had watched the men’s road race go up to Montmartre during the 2024 Olympics and felt immediately that Paris should be handed this gift again.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026

Andresen said he wanted to be on the wheel of his main rival Brennan in the final hectic finishing sprint in Sunday's 183.8 kilometre road race and relished his opportunity to have the last crack.

From Barron's ● Feb. 1, 2026

When we pulled into Mrs. Droogie’s driveway he was sitting on his tricycle with a superior smirk on his face, as if he had just won a super tricycle road race.

From "Dead End in Norvelt" by Jack Gantos

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