# relay

Pronunciation: say "REE-lay" US /ˈɹileɪ/, UK /ˈɹiːleɪ/

## Noun

1. A track and field event in which runners take turns carrying a baton from start to finish, most often over 4×100 or 4×400 meters.
   - Simple: A track race in which runners on a team take turns carrying a short stick called a baton.
   - _Our women's team set a school record in the 4×100 relay._
   - _A fumbled baton on the last exchange cost them a place in the relay final._
3. A contest between teams in which members take turns completing part of a course or performing a set task.
   - Simple: A race between teams in which each team member takes a turn.
   - _The counselors organized a sack-race relay for the last afternoon of camp._
   - _She swam the butterfly leg of the medley relay._
4. An electrical device that lets a relatively small voltage or current control a larger voltage or current.
   - Simple: An electric part that lets a small amount of power turn a bigger flow of power on or off.
   - _A faulty relay kept the furnace from switching on._
   - _The control board uses a relay so that a five-volt signal can operate a 240-volt pump._
5. A fresh set or supply of anything.
   - Simple: A new group or supply of something.
   - _A fresh relay of reporters arrived each morning to take over the stakeout._
   - _Relays of hot coffee and pastries appeared throughout the long meeting._
6. A series of vehicles traveling in sequence, one after another.
   - Simple: A line of vehicles that travel one after another.
   - _A relay of ambulances ferried the injured from the crash site to three hospitals._
   - _The quarry kept a steady relay of dump trucks moving gravel to the dam site._
8. A fresh set of horses kept ready along a particular route to replace animals that have grown tired.
   - Simple: Fresh horses kept waiting along a road to take the place of tired ones.
   - _The royal messenger rode through the night, picking up a fresh relay of horses at each post house._
   - _Without relays waiting along the road, the stagecoach could never have kept its schedule._

## Verb

2. To pass information on to someone else, or transmit it from one place to another. (pronounced: say "ri-LAY" /ɹiˈleɪ/)
   - Simple: To pass a message or information on to another person or place.
   - _Satellites relay live pictures from the stadium to viewers around the world._
   - _A spokesperson relayed the family's request for privacy to reporters._
7. Alternative spelling of re-lay. — Alternative spelling of re-lay. (pronounced: say "ree-LAY" US /ˌɹiˈleɪ/, UK /ˌɹiːˈleɪ/)
   - Simple: Alternative spelling of re-lay. It means to lay something, like a floor or a track, again.
   - _The railroad will relay the branch line over the winter so heavier engines can use it._
   - _After the flood, we had to relay the entire kitchen floor._

## Noun

9. In hunting, a fresh set of hounds. *(rare)*
   - Simple: A new group of hunting dogs.
   - _When the first pack tired, the huntsman sent in a relay of fresh hounds._
   - _A second relay waited at the edge of the forest, ready to take up the chase._

## Verb

10. To station people or horses at intervals so that fresh ones can take over in turn. *(archaic)* (pronounced: say "ri-LAY" /ɹiˈleɪ/)
   - Simple: To set up people or horses in groups so that each one can take over from the one before.
   - _The army relayed fresh horses at every village so that its dispatches could cross the country in two days._
   - _The expedition planned to relay teams of porters along the trail so the loads never stopped moving._
11. To swap tired horses for fresh ones at a stage on a journey. *(archaic)* (pronounced: say "ri-LAY" /ɹiˈleɪ/)
   - Simple: To change to fresh horses, taking on a new set.
   - _The courier relayed at each post house and reached the capital by dawn._
   - _Travelers who could afford to relay every twenty miles made the trip in half the time._
12. In hunting, to let loose a fresh set of hounds. *(obsolete)* (pronounced: say "ri-LAY" /ɹiˈleɪ/)
   - Simple: In hunting, to let a new group of dogs go after the animal.
   - _Huntsmen who relay too early waste their best hounds._
   - _The master waited until the pack flagged, then relayed at the edge of the forest._

## Origin

**Meanings 1–6, 8–12** — From Middle French relai ("reserve pack of hounds"), from relaier ("to exchange tired animals for fresh"), from Old French relaier ("to leave behind"), from re- + laier ("to leave"), which is of uncertain origin.
**Meaning 7** — Formed from re- + lay.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/relay (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).