A dictionary of Confusable Phrases: More Than 10,000 Idioms and Collocations

rat race • rat-racing
rat race —
1
. said of a situation marked by hyperactivity and
stress: I began to realize that the quality of life mattered more
to me than the rat race in the office. Cf.: mouse race —(a play
on “rat race”) a lower-stress lifestyle that results from moving to
a smaller community or taking a less demanding job: There is a
new phenomenon: “the mouse race,” a scaled-down version
of the urban rat race that has long-time residents heading for
even smaller towns. 2. a fiercely competitive struggle to main-
tain one’s position: A boy’s got to have guts to make his way
in this rat race of a modern world.
Note: 
The expression does not correlate in meaning with the
phrase rat run—
1
. a maze-like passage by which rats move about:
The rat-runs had been stopped up, and he killed nearly a hun-
dred rats before he paused. 2. used of smth. resembling narrow
labyrinthine passages: Hurrying along the rat-runs of the Tube,
she slipped her hand into his pocket. 3. (UK coll.) a short cut
taken by a motorist on residential side street in order to avoid the
heavy traffic on a main route: Rat runs are usually taken by
drivers who are familiar with the local geography.
rat-racing—(Pilots) a playful form of high-speed flying in
which airplanes pursue or attempt to out-maneuver each
other: I’ve forgotten what we were doing — probably rat-racing
… where we chased each other all over the sky.
reach first base • touch base
reach first base —(also: get to first base) get to the initial stage
in accomplishing smth.: Negotiations had not even reached
first base because the Government was continually using delay-
ing tactics.
touch base —(coll.) contact smb.; confer with a person (also:
touch bases): Forstmann had touched base with his partners
and found that they harbored a vague distaste for the tobacco
business.