relay

1 of 3

noun

re·​lay ˈrē-ˌlā How to pronounce relay (audio)
1
a
: a supply (as of horses) arranged beforehand for successive relief
b
: a number of persons who relieve others in some work
worked in relays around the clock
2
a
: a race between teams in which each team member successively covers a specified portion of the course
b
: one of the divisions of a relay
3
: an electromagnetic device for remote or automatic control that is actuated by variation in conditions of an electric circuit and that operates in turn other devices (such as switches) in the same or a different circuit
4
5
: the act of passing along (something, such as a message or ball) by stages
also : one of such stages

relay

2 of 3

verb (1)

relayed; relaying

transitive verb

1
a
: to place or dispose in relays
b
: to provide with relays
2
: to pass along by relays
news was relayed to distant points
3
: to control or operate by a relay

relay

3 of 3

verb (2)

re·​lay (ˌ)rē-ˈlā How to pronounce relay (audio)
relaid (ˌ)rē-ˈlād How to pronounce relay (audio) ; relaying

transitive verb

: to lay again
relay track

Examples of relay in a Sentence

Noun Our relay team is training for next weekend's race. a satellite relay of a television signal We set up a relay to carry buckets of water to the campsite. They worked in relays to clear the rubble.
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Another Falcon 9 blasted off in dense fog from Cape Canaveral, boosting 23 more Starlink internet relay satellites into orbit. William Harwood, CBS News, 4 Mar. 2024 When shooting promotional materials for How to Steal a Million, Audrey wanted to look the part, Dotti relays. Liz McNeil, Peoplemag, 4 Feb. 2024 Despite being disqualified from the 4×400 meter relay, Manchester Valley clinched the county title over Winters Mill thanks to points earned from Joseph Rumbaugh’s performance in the pole vault. Timothy Dashiell, Baltimore Sun, 2 Feb. 2024 On the final day of events, after striking out on three individual events, Alvarez got his medal as part of Team USA’s 5,000-meter relay. Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 30 Jan. 2024 So there was almost a relay of footage that this film was made from. James Hibberd, The Hollywood Reporter, 8 Mar. 2024 Arkansas has the top qualifying mark in the 1,600 relay and the No. 3 high jumper in Rachel Glenn. Bob Holt, arkansasonline.com, 29 Feb. 2024 Holmes holds the world record in the mixed 4x400-meter relay, is a world champion, and is currently ranked number four in the world in the indoor 400-meter. Katelyn Hutchison, Forbes, 14 Feb. 2024 May 4 Overview: This season follows a year for the record books: San Diego Section marks were set in three boys individual events, two boys relays, one girls individual race and a girls relay. San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Feb. 2024
Verb
Ford decided to relay her claim in July 2018, and spent the dizzying weeks until late September trying, and failing, to be heard. Megan Garber, The Atlantic, 19 Mar. 2024 The Army Reserve also failed to relay recommendations from a hospital where Card received mental health treatment to police or ask police to charge Card for his shooting threats. Justine McDaniel, Washington Post, 16 Mar. 2024 Nikas alleges that within an hour of the hearing, Morrissey called the NBC News reporter to relay the scheduling update. Gene Maddaus, Variety, 15 Mar. 2024 Just as Martinez is alleged to have relayed orders and collected money from outside jail, Torres used his wife to field calls from inmates and manage his money, according to recorded calls played at his trial. Matthew Ormseth, Los Angeles Times, 14 Mar. 2024 While Voyager 1 has continued to relay a steady radio signal to its mission control team on Earth, that signal has not carried any usable data since November, which has pointed to an issue with one of the spacecraft’s three onboard computers. Ashley Strickland, CNN, 14 Mar. 2024 By leveraging innovative data logging approaches, automakers can eliminate some of the irrelevant data before relaying it to the cloud. Mayank Sikaria, Forbes, 29 Feb. 2024 If a 23-year-old can understand the value of newspapers and relay it to her generation on TikTok, maybe this old-fashioned medium will be cool, again. Jodie Valade, Charlotte Observer, 8 Mar. 2024 Synan then met with the chief of another police department in Hamilton County, who relayed to Synan that Kobasuk was investigating him for misuse of funds and of a police cruiser, the suit states. Quinlan Bentley, The Enquirer, 8 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'relay.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English, set of fresh hounds, from relayen

Verb (1)

Middle English, to release a set of fresh hounds, take a fresh horse, from Middle French relaier, from re- + laier to let go, leave — more at delay

Verb (2)

re- + lay entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb (1)

1788, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb (2)

1757, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of relay was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near relay

Cite this Entry

“Relay.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/relay. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

relay

1 of 3 noun
re·​lay ˈrē-ˌlā How to pronounce relay (audio)
1
: a fresh supply (as of horses or people) arranged to relieve others
2
a
: a race between teams in which each team member covers an assigned part of the course
b
: one of the divisions of a relay
3
: an electromagnetic device in which the opening or closing of one circuit operates another device (as a switch in another circuit)
4
: the act of passing along (as a message or a ball) by stages
also : one of such stages
the shortstop's relay from center field was too late to catch the runner

relay

2 of 3 verb
relayed; relaying
1
a
: to place or arrange in relays
b
: to provide with relays
2
: to pass along by stages
news was relayed by satellites

relay

3 of 3 verb
re·​lay (ˈ)rē-ˈlā How to pronounce relay (audio)
relaid -ˈlād How to pronounce relay (audio) ; relaying
: to lay again
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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