Phrase guide
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
No pronunciation record was provided for this word.
noun
The competitive process in which a political party selects their candidate, especially presidential; a primary election via caucus.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: US, idiomatic
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
A political competition; the game of campaigning and one-upmanship to get votes and be elected.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: US, idiomatic
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
A laborious but arbitrary and futile activity; an activity that amounts to running around in a circle, expending great energy but not accomplishing anything.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: idiomatic
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
A win-win system; a positive system in which everybody wins.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
History
From caucus (“special party meeting for vote allocation”) + race (“contest between people”).
From caucus (“regular party committee meeting of elected MPs”) + race (“contest between people”); a reference to Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, chapter III "A Caucus-Race and a Long Tale", being a nonsensical satire thereof: all participants have to run in circles until an arbitrary end is called and everyone is declared a winner; Alice has to give prizes to them all, and being declared a winner too, the Dodo solemnly takes her thimble and awards it back to her.
Across languages
6 source translations are retained for this English entry.
