RACE

A game, match, etc., open only to losers in early stages of contests.

A root. "A race or two of ginger." Shak. Race ginger, ginger in the root, or not pulverized.

The descendants of a common ancestor; a family, tribe, people, or nation, believed or presumed to belong to the same stock; a lineage; a breed. The whole race of mankind. Shak. Whence the long race of Alban fathers come. Dryden.

Company; herd; breed. For do but note a wild and wanton herd, Or race of youthful and unhandled colts, Fetching mad bounds. Shak .

A variety of such fixed character that it may be propagated by seed.

Peculiar flavor, taste, or strength, as of wine; that quality, or assemblage of qualities, which indicates origin or kind, as in wine; hence, characteristic flavor; smack. "A race of heaven." Shak. Is it [the wine] of the right race Massinqer.

Hence, characteristic quality or disposition. [Obs.] And now I give my sensual race the rein. Shak. Some . . . great race of fancy or judgment. Sir W. Temple.

A progress; a course; a movement or progression.

Esp., swift progress; rapid course; a running. The flight of many birds is swifter than the race of any beasts. Bacon.

Hence: The act or process of running in competition; a contest of speed in any way, as in running, riding, driving, skating, rowing, sailing; in the plural, usually, a meeting for contests in the running of horses; as, he attended the races. The race is not to the swift. Eccl. ix. 11. I wield the gauntlet, and I run the race. Pope.

Competitive action of any kind, especially when prolonged; hence, career; course of life. My race of glory run, and race of shame. Milton.

A strong or rapid current of water, or the channel or passage for such a current; a powerful current or heavy sea, sometimes produced by the meeting of two tides; as, the Portland Race; the Race of Alderney.

The current of water that turns a water wheel, or the channel in which it flows; a mill race.

A channel or guide along which a shuttle is driven back and forth, as in a loom, sewing machine, etc. Race cloth, a cloth worn by horses in racing, having pockets to hold the weights prescribed. -- Race course. (a) The path, generally circular or elliptical, over which a race is run. (b) Same as Race way, below. -- Race cup, a cup given as a prize to the victor in a race. -- Race glass, a kind of field glass. -- Race horse. (a) A horse that runs in competition; specifically, a horse bred or kept for running races. (b) A breed of horses remarkable for swiftness in running. (c) (Zoöl.) The steamer duck.

To run swiftly; to contend in a race; as, the animals raced over the ground; the ships raced from port to port.

To run too fast at times, as a marine engine or screw, when the screw is lifted out of water by the action of a heavy sea.

To cause to contend in race; to drive at high speed; as, to race horses.

To run a race with.