races

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of race.

   The runners trained hard for the upcoming races.

   Local sailing races draw big crowds every summer.

   Note

   One spelling gathers several plurals that have little to do with each other. It covers contests of speed, such as foot races, regattas and car races. It also names the channels that carry water to a millwheel, the fast-moving currents of a river, and, in software, the timing bugs programmers call race conditions. The surrounding words usually make it clear which kind of races is meant.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of race.

   The cyclist races against the clock in every event.

   Whenever the gates open, the greyhound races ahead of the pack.

   Note

   The present-tense verb works with or without an object. She races every weekend, but she races her brother to the gate. Mechanics have their own use: an engine races when it spins fast without driving the transmission. The form is spelled exactly like the plural noun, so the sentence decides whether races is something someone does or a set of events.

   He races his brother to the end of the street every morning.

   The engine races whenever the clutch slips.

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