"rat-race" meaning in English

See rat-race in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Forms: rat-races [plural]
Head templates: {{en-noun}} rat-race (plural rat-races)
  1. Alternative form of rat race Tags: alt-of, alternative Alternative form of: rat race
    Sense id: en-rat-race-en-noun-jK1oajKV

Verb

Forms: rat-races [present, singular, third-person], rat-racing [participle, present], rat-raced [participle, past], rat-raced [past]
Head templates: {{en-verb}} rat-race (third-person singular simple present rat-races, present participle rat-racing, simple past and past participle rat-raced)
  1. (slang, transitive, intransitive) To rat run, that is, to drive on side streets, often at high speeds, to avoid traffic. Tags: intransitive, slang, transitive
    Sense id: en-rat-race-en-verb-ZMRfNQLC Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 10 58 31 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 12 56 32 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 7 60 34
  2. (slang, intransitive, idiomatic) To partake or participate in a rat race, in all senses. Tags: idiomatic, intransitive, slang
    Sense id: en-rat-race-en-verb-u3P37Q64

Inflected forms

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "rat-races",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "rat-racing",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "rat-raced",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "rat-raced",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "rat-race (third-person singular simple present rat-races, present participle rat-racing, simple past and past participle rat-raced)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "10 58 31",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "12 56 32",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "7 60 34",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To rat run, that is, to drive on side streets, often at high speeds, to avoid traffic."
      ],
      "id": "en-rat-race-en-verb-ZMRfNQLC",
      "links": [
        [
          "rat run",
          "rat run"
        ],
        [
          "side streets",
          "side streets"
        ],
        [
          "high",
          "high"
        ],
        [
          "speed",
          "speed"
        ],
        [
          "traffic",
          "traffic"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(slang, transitive, intransitive) To rat run, that is, to drive on side streets, often at high speeds, to avoid traffic."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "intransitive",
        "slang",
        "transitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "glosses": [
        "To partake or participate in a rat race, in all senses."
      ],
      "id": "en-rat-race-en-verb-u3P37Q64",
      "links": [
        [
          "partake",
          "partake"
        ],
        [
          "participate",
          "participate"
        ],
        [
          "rat race",
          "rat race"
        ],
        [
          "sense",
          "sense"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(slang, intransitive, idiomatic) To partake or participate in a rat race, in all senses."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic",
        "intransitive",
        "slang"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "rat-race"
}

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "rat-races",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "rat-race (plural rat-races)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "alt_of": [
        {
          "word": "rat race"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1939, Christopher Morley, chapter 26, in Kitty Foyle, page 261:",
          "text": "Their own private life gets to be a rat-race.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Alternative form of rat race"
      ],
      "id": "en-rat-race-en-noun-jK1oajKV",
      "links": [
        [
          "rat race",
          "rat race#English"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "alt-of",
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "rat-race"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns",
    "English verbs",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries"
  ],
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "rat-races",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "rat-racing",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "rat-raced",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "rat-raced",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "rat-race (third-person singular simple present rat-races, present participle rat-racing, simple past and past participle rat-raced)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English intransitive verbs",
        "English slang",
        "English transitive verbs"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To rat run, that is, to drive on side streets, often at high speeds, to avoid traffic."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "rat run",
          "rat run"
        ],
        [
          "side streets",
          "side streets"
        ],
        [
          "high",
          "high"
        ],
        [
          "speed",
          "speed"
        ],
        [
          "traffic",
          "traffic"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(slang, transitive, intransitive) To rat run, that is, to drive on side streets, often at high speeds, to avoid traffic."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "intransitive",
        "slang",
        "transitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English idioms",
        "English intransitive verbs",
        "English slang"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To partake or participate in a rat race, in all senses."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "partake",
          "partake"
        ],
        [
          "participate",
          "participate"
        ],
        [
          "rat race",
          "rat race"
        ],
        [
          "sense",
          "sense"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(slang, intransitive, idiomatic) To partake or participate in a rat race, in all senses."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic",
        "intransitive",
        "slang"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "rat-race"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns",
    "English verbs",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries"
  ],
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "rat-races",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "rat-race (plural rat-races)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "alt_of": [
        {
          "word": "rat race"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1939, Christopher Morley, chapter 26, in Kitty Foyle, page 261:",
          "text": "Their own private life gets to be a rat-race.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Alternative form of rat race"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "rat race",
          "rat race#English"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "alt-of",
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "rat-race"
}

Download raw JSONL data for rat-race meaning in English (2.5kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-03-01 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-02-21 using wiktextract (7c21d10 and f2e72e5). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.