victory lap

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English

WOTD – 21 August 2016
Runners at the Women's Marathon during the 2012 Summer Olympics in London: (left to right) Gladys Tejeda (Peru), Rasa Drazdauskaitė (Lithuania), Nastassia Staravoitava (Belarus), Sviatlana Kouhan (Belarus), and Ümmü Kiraz (Turkey)

Pronunciation

Noun

victory lap (plural victory laps)

  1. (sports) A celebratory extra lap of the race track taken after the conclusion of a race.
    Synonym: lap of honour
  2. (figuratively) An act of pride or celebration that follows a great achievement or success.
    • 2023 July 26, Jeanna Smialek, “Fed Raises Rates After a Pause and Leaves Door Open to More”, in The New York Times‎:
      But inflation has previously slowed and then picked back up, and the Fed is not yet ready to take a victory lap. Mr. Powell said officials would be watching incoming data ahead of the Fed’s Sept. 20 meeting to decide whether they need to raise interest rates further at that gathering.
  3. (Canada, US, education, slang) One or more years of study beyond the traditional four taken to complete one's undergraduate degree.
    • 2013 February 25, Vivien Chang, “The myth of the four-year degree”, in Maclean's:
      It’s not just finances that lead to victory laps. Those who study abroad during undergraduate may find it difficult to earn enough credits to fulfill degree requirements in four years.
    • 2017 April 1, Peter Lenz, “The Clock Tower: The History, The Myths, and More”, in The Racquet:
      McNaughton continues, “I took a stroll underneath it before freshman year and I am going to be taking a victory lap.”
  4. (Canada, chiefly Ontario, education, slang) One or more additional years of study in high school.
    • 2010 November 18, Patrick Brady, Philip Allingham, “Pathways to University: The ‘Victory Lap’ Phenomenon in Ontario”, in Canadian Journal of Educational Administration and Policy, number 113:
      An examination of the data generated by the survey instrument revealed the existence of a definitive gender disparity between the two groups in that 47.8% (22 of 46) of male respondents reported having taken a victory lap compared to 20.2% (21 of 104) of their female counterparts.
    • 2012 April 9, Teri Pecoskie, “A cap on the victory lap”, in Hamilton Spectator:
      Each year as many as 20,000 students head back for a so-called victory lap in Ontario's classrooms, which prompted the province to implement a 34-credit cap in a bid to save up to $22 million annually.

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