drag race

1. noun A race of acceleration between two or more automobiles that start from a standstill. Police broke up an illegal drag race taking place along a stretch of road south of the city's border. The car is designed to win in a drag race, but it won't perform nearly as well in any kind of long-distance races. A: "What's all that racket outside?" B: "Ugh, there must be a drag race happening up on the boulevard."

2. verb To participate in such a race. Witnesses said that the four people involved in the crash had been drag racing along the abandoned street. I never take that way home at this time of night because there's usually people drag racing. Well, we were planning to drag race, but now there's cops all over the place—somebody must have tipped them off.