relay race

American

noun

Sports.

a race between two or more teams of contestants, each contestant being relieved by a teammate after running part of the distance.

relay race British

noun

a race between two or more teams of contestants in which each contestant covers a specified portion of the distance

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

relay races

plural

Etymology

Origin of relay race

First recorded in 1895–1900

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

relay race

If life is a relay race, your brother passed on the Social Security baton.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 11, 2026

I kind of feel like we’re all in this relay race, right, and we’re just fumbling the ball to one another and trying to move forward.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 11, 2026

As well as solo runners there are plenty of relay race competitors, with many costumes on display.

From BBC ● May 3, 2026

Ashley Porter, a 39-year-old marathon runner in Washington, D.C., started mixing trail runs into her weekly training to prepare for a long-distance running relay race in Zion National Park, in Orderville, Utah, in May.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 30, 2026

The Freedom Writers see this book as the third leg of a relay race.

From "The Freedom Writers Diary" by The Freedom Writers

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023