race against time

Syllable breakdown

Dictionary meaning

a situation of intense urgency in which a goal must be achieved before a deadline or deteriorating conditions make success impossible, requiring maximum speed and effort to complete the necessary work before the critical threshold is crossed; the phrase draws on the image of a competitive race in which time itself is the opponent, an impersonal and implacable adversary against whom no amount of skill or preparation can buy more time, only use the available time more efficiently; in medical and public health contexts it describes emergency responses to disease outbreaks, development of vaccines, or delivery of treatment to patients before their condition becomes irreversible