a race against time

idiomatic phrase

variants or a race against the clock

: a situation in which something must happen or be done quickly because little time is available

Divers pulling the 12 boys and their soccer coach from the cave were in a race against time, with the threat of rains making an already difficult rescue even more urgent.

—Richard C. Paddock and Muktita Suhartono

… as everyone argued back and forth about whether to enter arbitration …, the issue of time came up. For some in the group, this was a race against the clock due to their illnesses and the need for medical treatment.

—Steven Allen Bruce

Examples of a race against time in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In the North Carolina town of Highlands, about 20 feet below ground in a goldmine from the 1800s, there is a race against time to save a bat population whose numbers are being decimated by a disease known as white-nose syndrome. —Dave Malkoff, CBS News, 16 Nov. 2025

Impossible franchise, which features a running man who sometimes wears disguises in a race against time. —Brian Davids, HollywoodReporter, 13 Nov. 2025

Based on the award-winning Los Angeles Times article by Frank Shyong, Rosemead watches as an ailing woman discovers her teenage son’s violent obsessions and must go to great lengths to protect him — and possibly others — in a race against time. —Matt Grobar, Deadline, 27 Oct. 2025

Sanders and several other speakers talked about the challenges obtaining sand to bring to the beach to replenish the supply — a race against time as beaches continue to erode. —Laylan Connelly, Oc Register, 24 Oct. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1814, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for a race against time

• aforetime
• allozyme
• anytime
• christmastime
• cybercrime
• dinnertime
• guggenheim
• isozyme
• lysozyme
• maritime
• mesenchyme
• overtime