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n. 1. A group of people identified as distinct from other groups because of supposed physical or genetic traits shared by the group. Most biologists and anthropologists do not recognize race as a biologically valid classification, in part because there is more genetic variation within groups than between them. 2. A group of people united or classified together on the basis of common history, nationality, or geographic distribution: the Celtic race. 3. A genealogical line; a lineage. 4. Humans considered as a group. 5. Biology a. A usually geographically isolated population of organisms that differs from other populations of the same species in certain heritable traits: an island race of birds. b. A breed or strain, as of domestic animals. 6. A distinguishing or characteristic quality, such as the flavor of a wine. adj. 1. Of or relating to race; racial: race relations; race quotas. 2. Of or relating to forms of popular entertainment made by and largely marketed to African Americans in the early 1900s: race literature; race records. [Middle French rasse, race, lineage, race, from Old Italian razza, probably from Old French haraz, stud farm for horses : Old French *har-, gray, gray-haired (as in French dialectal (Normandy) harousse, nag, old mare; perhaps in reference to the graying of stud horses with age and from Old Norse hārr, gray-haired, hoary; akin to English HOAR) or Old French *har-, hair (perhaps in reference to the fact that stud horses are no longer regularly saddled; akin to French dialectal (Norman) har, hair, in monter á har, to ride on hair, ride bareback, from Old Norse hār, hair; akin to English HAIR) + Old French -az, -as, n. suff. (from Latin -āceus, -aceous).] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
n. 1. Sports a. A competition of speed, as in running or riding. b. races A series of such competitions held at a specified time on a regular course: a fan of the dog races. 2. An extended competition in which participants struggle like runners to be the winner: the presidential race. 3. Steady or rapid onward movement: the race of time. 4. a. A strong or swift current of water. b. The channel of such a current. c. An artificial channel built to transport water and use its energy. Also called raceway. 5. A groovelike part of a machine in which a moving part slides or rolls. 6. See slipstream. v. raced, rac·ing, rac·es v.intr. 1. Sports To compete in a contest of speed. 2. To move rapidly or at top speed: We raced home. My heart was racing with fear. 3. To run too rapidly due to decreased resistance or unnecessary provision of fuel: adjusted the idle to keep the engine from racing. v.tr. 1. Sports a. To compete against in a race. b. To cause to compete in a race: She races horses for a living. 2. To transport rapidly or at top speed; rush: raced the injured motorist to the hospital. 3. To cause (an engine with the gears disengaged, for example) to run swiftly or too swiftly. [Middle English ras, from Old Norse rās, rush, running; see ers- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
A promontory of southeast Newfoundland, Canada, on the coast of the Avalon Peninsula. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
