horse race

noun

Definition of horse racenext
1
as in ball game

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Dissimilar Words
2
as in photo finish

Related Words

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for horse race
  1. ball game
  2. photo finish
  3. confrontation
  4. toss-up
  5. war
  6. duel
  7. combat
  8. contention
Noun
  • If Britney Spears can hire ghostwriters to help turn her partial memories into polished prose, why does asking ChatGPT to do the same thing feel like a whole other ball game?
    — Maxwell Adler, Vanity Fair, 28 Aug. 2026
  • Log temples atop the mounds overlooked wide plazas for ball games, ceremonies, and open-air markets.
    — ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of ball game
Noun
  • Briscoe held off Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Christopher Bell to win his second straight NASCAR playoff race in a photo finish on Sunday at Charlotte Motor Speedway, vaulting him into contention to earn his first Cup Series championship.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 11 Oct. 2026
  • But these data don't suggest a photo finish on the initiative come November so much as a rout.
    — Matt Calkins OutKick, FOXNews.com, 9 Oct. 2026
Definition of photo finish
Noun
  • Iran and Saudi Arabia represent competing religious ideologies and have been locked in a regional rivalry for decades, culminating in an outright confrontation earlier this year after the US and Israel launched a war on the Islamic Republic.
    — Mostafa Salem, CNN Money, 26 Oct. 2026
  • Not through confrontation, but through sensitivity, through encounter and through the possibility of listening to one another.
    — Ed Meza, Variety, 26 Oct. 2026
Definition of confrontation
Noun
  • Although Ohio has become more reliably red in recent years, the race between Husted and Democrat Sherrod Brown, who served in the Senate from 2007 to 2025, is currently considered a toss-up by CBS News.
    — Caroline Linton, CBS News, 28 Oct. 2026
  • Voters in Kansas have not elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1932, but the race is rated as a toss-up.
    — Michael J. Coren, Washington Post, 28 Oct. 2026
Definition of toss-up
Noun
  • While Healey is expected to let a reduction in his fiscal buffer do most of the work on the basis that the Iran war has blown a hole in his accounts, tax increases are still likely.
    — Ian King, CNBC, 27 Oct. 2026
  • In March, the Pentagon reportedly began shipping Patriot and THAAD components from South Korea to the Middle East to support the Iran war.
    — Dan Blumenthal, Washington Post, 27 Oct. 2026
Definition of war
Noun
  • When an ingenious serial killer begins murdering Minneapolis citizens, Davenport, a brilliant polymath and unconventional investigator, takes the case, sparking an intense psychological duel with an equally intelligent adversary.
    — Denise Petski, Deadline, 22 Oct. 2026
  • Snell opened the seventh by walking Andrew Vaughn and losing an 11-pitch duel to Bauers, who won the battle with a two-run homer.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of duel
Noun
  • The concept could eventually be considered for future Chinese combat aircraft, including the J-20 and next-gen designs commonly referred to as the J-36 and J-50.
    — Bojan Stojkovski, Interesting Engineering, 24 Oct. 2026
  • On the fall 2026 runways, romantic clothes arrived styled like everything else in your closet—a lace skirt with a cotton shirt, a gown with a combat boot, a ruffled collar over plain velvet trousers—and the shift is visible on the street too.
    — Laurence Goldberg, Vogue, 24 Oct. 2026
Definition of combat
Noun
  • Just when the Magic appear ready to take another step toward championship contention, somebody limps off the court.
    — Mike Bianchi, The Orlando Sentinel, 28 Oct. 2026
  • This season, the Suns are in a challenging spot, trying to vault from the Play-In Tournament into Western Conference contention.
    — Doug Haller, New York Times, 28 Oct. 2026
Definition of contention
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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horsepower
horse race
horse races
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Cite this Entry

“Horse race.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/horse%20race. Accessed 30 Oct. 2026.

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