walkovern.
/ˈwɔːkˌəʊvə/, U.S. /ˈwɔkˌoʊvər/, /ˈwɑkˌoʊvər/ 1.
a. Sport (esp. Horse Racing). A contest in which, through absence of competitors, the winner has merely to ‘walk over’ the finish line.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > racing or race > horse racing > [noun] > types of racing > types of race
wild-goose race1594
wild goose chase1597
bell-course1607
Palio1673
stake1696
paddock course1705
handicap1751
by-match1759
pony race1765
give and take plate1769
sweepstake1773
steeplechase1793
mile-heat1802
steeple race1809
welter1820
trotting-race1822
scurry1824
walkover1829
steeple hunt1831
set-to1840
sky race1840
flat race1848
trot1856
grind1857
feeler1858
nursery1860
waiting race1868
horse-trot1882
selling plate1888
flying milea1893
chase1894
flying handicap1894
prep1894
selling race1898
point-to-point1902
seller1922
shoo-in1928
daily double1930
bumper1946
selling chase1965
tiercé1981
1829 J. Badcock Conversat. on Conditioning 12 A. We scarcely win a race but I find myself remembered..according to..the goodness of the cattle we may have been opposed to... Q. Then a ‘walk-over’ is not to your taste? A. Not a bit of it: give me a neck-and-neck win against the best bred cattle in Christendom!
1861 Sporting Rev. Oct. 249 Kettledrum's walk-over was quite a little tit-bit for the Yorkshiremen.
1889 Cent. Mag. July 403/1 That's the bay stallion there,..and he's never been beaten. It's his walk-over.
1955 Times 25 July 2/4 Vigo, having disposed of Little Psalter, and taken no more out of himself that would have been the case in a walk-over, [etc.].
1993 Sports Illustr. 9 Aug. 58/3 The coaches..were rewarded with a nail-biter, even though it wasn't supposed to be much more than a walkover.
2006 Horse Racing's Top 100 Moments xcii. 232 The gun metal gray son of Bold Bidder traveled coast to coast, winning all nine of his starts, including a rare walkover—a race without any competition.
b. In extended use (esp. Politics). A contest in which, because of the lack of opposition or the inferiority of other contenders, the winner has little or no competition.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > dissent > competition or rivalry > [noun] > a contest or competition > easy
walkover1829
runaway1901
shoo-in1939
push-in1948
no contest1959
1829 W. H. Maxwell Stories of Waterloo I. 24 The Mayo election had ended in smoke... One candidate did not come to the post, and to the other two, the thing was a walk over.
1859 Titan Sept. 355/2 Slang respecting Parliament... A walk over, an election without a contest.
1863 Jrnl. Hort., Cottage Gardener, & Country Gentleman 15 Sept. 321/1 Harvey Dutton Bayley, Esq., stood far above competition in the Bantam classes. It was as complete a ‘walk over’ as we could imagine.
1926 Amer. Mercury Mar. 285/1 The election was a walkover for Ritchie.
1954 R. Pares King Geo. II & Politicians i. 9 Philip Yorke's election for Cambridgeshire in 1747, which was virtually a walkover, cost £2003, and was thought cheap at the price.
2005 D. Else Great Brit. (ed. 6) 50 A general election was called in 2001, and although the opposition parties..regained some seats, it was still pretty much a walkover for Tony Blair and the Labour party.
2. gen. Something that is achieved with great ease.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > easiness > [noun] > that which is easy
ball play?c1225
child's gamec1380
boys' play1538
walkover1861
picnic1870
pudding1884
cakewalk1886
pie1886
cinch1888
snipa1890
pushover1891
pinch1897
sitter1898
pipe1902
five-finger exercise1903
duck soup1912
pud1917
breeze1928
kid stuff1929
soda1930
piece of cake1936
doddle1937
snack1941
stroll1942
piece of piss1949
waltz1968
1861 Fraser’s Mag. Sept. 323/2 ‘Women..hate a walk over!’ And indeed nothing can be so disappointing to those gentle beings as to discover that they have brought up all their artillery against an object which melts into air the moment they have pointed their guns.
1899 G. Cusack Red Rag of Ritual ii. xviii. 289 The vicar had met Methuen outside; Methuen, whose course through life had been a ‘walk over’, as Mrs. Jenkins said.
1931 Daily Tel. 21 Jan. 8/4 This makes its acquisition by an American crook a walk-over.
1975 P. Fussell Great War & Mod. Mem. (1977) i. 27 His little sporting contest did have the effect of persuading his men that the attack was going to be..a walkover.
2006 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 9 Mar. (Appointments section) 10 Recruiters warn that ambitious managers looking to pick up a really juicy role won't find it a walk over.
Compounds
General attributive.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > easiness > [adjective] > doing effortlessly > done easily > done with great ease
walkover1908
walk-away1926
1908 Fitchburg (Mass.) Daily Sentinel 2 June 6/3 The Goodwins went into first place in the Twilight league, Monday night, by making a walkover victory out of the conflict with the Red Wings.
1936 Sunday Times 14 June 4/2 When the law gets them in its clutches, a shady lawyer is allowed to get a walkover verdict of ‘Not Guilty’.
1974 Times 5 Oct. 14/7 Lauda seemed set for almost a walkover trip to the title (he proved himself the fastest driver..nine times this year).
2002 C. M. Palm Bright Lights Dark Shadows iii. xxi. 320 The first Gothenburg concert went off without a hitch—a walkover victory with the concert-goers.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2009; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1829