race

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
race1

▶noun

• 1 a competition between runners, horses, vehicles, etc. to see which is fastest over a set course.

  ■ (the races) a series of races for horses or dogs, held at a fixed time in a particular place.

  ■ a situation in which people compete to be first to achieve something.

• 2 a strong or rapid current flowing through a narrow channel.

• 3 a water channel, especially one in a mill or mine.

• 4 a smooth ring-shaped groove or guide for a ball bearing or roller bearing.

• 5 a fenced passageway in a stockyard through which animals pass singly for branding, loading, etc.

• 6 (in weaving) the channel along which the shuttle moves.

• 7 archaic the course of the sun or moon through the heavens.

▶verb

• 1 compete in a race.

  ■ compete regularly in races as a sport.

  ■ have a race with.

  ■ prepare and enter (an animal or vehicle) for races.

• 2 move or progress swiftly.

  ■ operate at excessive speed.

– phrases
be in the race [usu. with neg.] Austral./NZ informal have a chance of success.

– origin OE (orig. a northern English word meaning ‘rapid forward movement’), from ON rás ‘current’.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
race2

▶noun

• 1 each of the major divisions of humankind, having distinct physical characteristics.

  ■ racial origin or distinction.

  ■ an ethnic group.

  ■ a group descended from a common ancestor.

• 2 a group of people or things with a common feature.

• 3 Biology a distinct population within a species; a subspecies.

– origin C16: via Fr. from Ital. razza, of unknown ultimate origin.

usage: In recent years, the associations of race with the ideologies and theories that grew out of the work of 19th-century anthropologists and physiologists has led to the use of the word race itself becoming problematic. Although still used in general contexts, it is now often replaced by other words which are less emotionally charged, such as people(s) or community.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
race3

▶noun dated a ginger root.

– origin ME: from OFr. rais, from L. radix, radic- ‘root’.