rat race

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See also: rat-race

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From rat +‎ race.

Pronunciation

Noun

rat race (plural rat races)

  1. (informal) 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.
  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.
    • 1989 April 30, Martha Bayles, quoting David Marc, “Taking Sitcoms Seriously”, in The New York Times‎, →ISSN:
      Echoing Allen Ginsberg, he contends that the suburban setting of “Father Knows Best” is most accurately seen as America's “ludicrous breeding ground for the young meat who will be fed into its wars and rat races and inhuman conformities.”
  3. (politics, business, finance) Inconsiderate or unfair competition, where the competitors are willing to use any means to win.

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