rat race

rat race

See also: rat-race

English

Alternative forms

• rat-race

Etymology

rat +‎ race

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

Noun

rat race (plural rat races)

1. An activity or situation which is congested with participants and which is hectic or tedious, especially in the context of a busy, modern urban lifestyle.
   • 2006, Richard Corliss, "Get Your Motor Running," Time, 14 May:

     […] a 1950s-ish town, keeping a sense of community far from the superhighway rat race.

2. (by extension) The busy, modern urban lifestyle itself, especially when seen as a competition for wealth or power.
   • 1979, Robin Scott (lyrics and music), “Pop Muzik”:

     Forget about the rat race / Let's do the Milkshake / Selling like a hotcake

   • 1980 [1962], Ian Fleming, chapter 1, in The Spy Who Loved Me, →ISBN, page 3:

     I was running away […] from my inability, although I am quite an attractive rat, to make headway in the rat-race.

3. (politics, business, finance) Inconsiderate or unfair competition, where the competitors are willing to do just about anything to win.

Derived terms

• rat racer

Translations

activity which is hectic, tedious, and congested with participants

Chinese: Mandarin: please add this translation if you can Danish: rotteræs n Finnish: oravanpyörä (fi) French: course folle f German: Rattenrennen (de) n Hungarian: hajsza (hu), pozícióharc (hu), mókuskerék (hu) Italian: corsa sfrenata f, corsa al successo f, competizione sfrenata f Norwegian: rotterace n, rotteres Polish: wyścig szczurów m Russian: крысиные бега (ru) m pl (krysinyje bega) Serbo-Croatian: trčanje u kotaču Swedish: ekorrhjul n

Anagrams

• carater, tarrace