three-legged race

American  

noun

1. a race among a number of paired contestants, each contestant having one leg tied to the adjacent leg of their partner.

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three-legged race British  

noun

1. a race in which pairs of competitors run with their adjacent legs tied together

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Etymology

Origin of three-legged race

First recorded in 1900–05

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

three-legged race

The two men navigated the terrain in a way that some observers compared to a three-legged race.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 30, 2021

“It’s a three-legged race with the contestants going in opposite directions.”

From New York Times ● Jul. 14, 2018

Tillerson has one secret survival weapon: He’s running a three-legged race, figuratively speaking, alongside Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, who respects Tillerson’s judgment and stays aligned with him through all the palace intrigue.

From Washington Post ● Nov. 21, 2017

It’s as if they imagine collaborative fiction as a kind of three-legged race: goofy and fun at an office picnic, but ill suited to a serious runner.

From Salon ● May 25, 2015

He followed his father that afternoon, and they joined in the tug-of-war and the three-legged race.

From "Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel" by David Guterson