<p><strong>Noun</strong></p><ul><li>A contest of speed, as in running, riding, driving, or sailing.</li><li>The races, a series of races, usually of horses or dogs, run at a set time over a regular course: They spent a day at the races.</li><li>Any contest or competition, especially to achieve superiority: the arms race; the presidential race.</li><li>Activity prompted by urgent need, responsibility, effort, etc., as when time is short or a solution is imperative: the race to find an effective vaccine.</li><li>Onward movement; an onward or regular course, as of time, one’s life, etc., especially when thought of as swift or relentless: Often in the race of time and the daily struggle, we forget our true purpose in life.</li><li>An artificial channel leading water to or from a place where it or its energy is utilized: A mill race diverts the flow from the river to the millwheel.</li><li>The current of water in an artificial channel.</li><li>Geology. A strong or rapid current of water, as in the sea or a river.</li><li>The channel or bed of such a current or of any stream.</li><li>Also called raceway.</li><li>Machinery. A channel, groove, or the like, for sliding or rolling a part or parts, as the balls of a ball bearing.</li><li>Textiles. The float between adjacent rows of pile.</li><li>Race plate (def).</li></ul><p><strong>Verb (used without object)</strong></p><ul><li>Raced, rac·ing. To engage in a contest of speed; run a race: He has raced several times in the Indy 500, but never won.</li><li>To run horses or dogs in races; engage in or practice horse racing or dog racing: Queen Elizabeth bred horses and regularly raced at Ascot.</li><li>To run, move, or go swiftly: We all screamed as the rollercoaster raced down the steep track.</li><li>(Of an engine, wheel, etc.) To run with undue or uncontrolled speed when the load is diminished without a corresponding reduction of fuel, force, etc.: I’m taking the car to the mechanic—the engine keeps racing.</li></ul><p><strong>Verb (used with object)</strong></p><ul><li>Raced, rac·ing. To run a race against; try to beat in a contest of speed: I'll race you to the water.</li><li>To enter (a horse, car, track team, or the like) in a race or races: In 1988, Jamaica raced its first bobsled team in the Winter Olympics.</li><li>To cause to run, move, or go at high speed: Don’t race the engine when shifting gears.</li></ul>