Racing

How to spell racing

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce racing

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does racing mean?

1. nounThe sport or activity of competing in contests of speed, especially with horses, cars, or boats.
2. adjectiveMoving, beating, or working very quickly, often from excitement or alarm.

Racing in a sentence

• noun

  He spent the weekend at the track watching horse racing.

• adjective

  She woke with a racing heart after the bad dream.

• noun

  Motor racing requires both fast reflexes and careful strategy.

• adjective

  His racing thoughts kept him awake long past midnight.

Where does racing come from?

Language of origin: Old Norse

This word grows from the noun and verb 'race', which English took from Old Norse 'ras', meaning a running, a swift movement, or a current of water. Norse settlers brought the word to northern Britain, where it first described a rapid course or onward rush rather than any organised contest. By the 1500s 'race' had come to mean a competition of speed between runners, horses, or boats, and the '-ing' form named the activity of taking part in such contests. The same root still surfaces in the older sense of a 'mill race', the fast channel of water that drives a wheel. Because the word is spelled with a single soft 'c' before 'i', writers occasionally trip over whether to keep the silent 'e' of 'race', but the rule is that the 'e' is dropped before the '-ing' ending.

How the word is built

• race (from Old Norse rás: a running, a current)
• -ing (forming a noun/adjective of action)