relay
1a series of persons relieving one another or taking turns; shift.
a fresh set of dogs or horses posted in readiness for use in a hunt, on a journey, etc.
Sports.
a length or leg in a relay race.
Machinery. an automatic control device in which the settings of valves, switches, etc., are regulated by a powered element, as a motor, solenoid, or pneumatic mechanism actuated by a smaller, sensitive element.
Electricity. a device, usually consisting of an electromagnet and an armature, by which a change of current or voltage in one circuit is used to make or break a connection in another circuit or to affect the operation of other devices in the same or another circuit.
(initial capital letter)U.S. Aerospace. one of an early series of experimental low-altitude, active communications satellites.
to carry forward by or as if by relays: to relay a message.
to provide with or replace by fresh relays.
Electricity. to retransmit (a signal, message, etc.) by or as if by means of a telegraphic relay.
Electricity. to retransmit a signal or message electronically.
Origin of relay
1Other definitions for relay (2 of 3)
Other definitions for re-lay (3 of 3)
or re·lay
Origin of re-lay
3Words that may be confused with re-lay
- re-lay , relay
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use relay in a sentence
Relays are special computers that Tor uses to anonymously transmit traffic across the Internet.
Brown himself spent years arresting sex workers when, as Forman relays, “what [he] really wanted to do [was] help them.”
To Catch a Sex Worker: A&E’s Awful, Exploitative Ambush Show | Samantha Allen | December 19, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTOne visitor, an elderly woman named Mrs. Lacey, relays an anecdote about her American son-in-law.
Colm Toibin Describes The Creation Of His Quiet Masterpiece ‘Nora Webster’ | Jennie Yabroff | November 3, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe Senate report relays doubts U.S. security personnel had regarding the militia before the attack.
The book is crammed with these hushed anecdotes, which Jarnow relays with the breathless urgency of a nerdy record store clerk.
Yo La Tengo and the Birth of Indie Rock: ‘Big Day Coming’ Reviewed | Alyssa Noel | June 8, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
Let my litter be prepared, and send men on horseback to provide relays of carriers every ten miles.
The Red Year | Louis TracyThis coach, of course, traveled by relays, and at what was then considered breakneck speed.
British Highways And Byways From A Motor Car | Thomas D. MurphyThe rest of the tapes fed in, razoring through the rollers, past the selenic-sensitized tips of the relays.
We're Friends, Now | Henry HasseHe indicated one of the variant-tapes being slowly reversed across the relays.
We're Friends, Now | Henry HasseThe Seabees merely shortened working time and operated in relays so efficiently that no time was lost.
The Flaming Mountain | Harold Leland Goodwin
British Dictionary definitions for relay
a person or team of people relieving others, as on a shift
a fresh team of horses, dogs, etc, posted at intervals along a route to relieve others
the act of relaying or process of being relayed
short for relay race
one of the sections of a relay race
an automatic device that controls the setting of a valve, switch, etc, by means of an electric motor, solenoid, or pneumatic mechanism
electronics an electrical device in which a small change in current or voltage controls the switching on or off of circuits or other devices
radio
a combination of a receiver and transmitter designed to receive radio signals and retransmit them, in order to extend their range
(as modifier): a relay station
to carry or spread (something, such as news or information) by relays
to supply or replace with relays
to retransmit (a signal) by means of a relay
British to broadcast (a performance) by sending out signals through a transmitting station: this concert is being relayed from the Albert Hall
Origin of relay
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for relay
[ rē′lā ]
An electrical switch that is operated by an electromagnet, such as a solenoid. When a small current passes through the electromagnet's coiled wire, it produces a magnetic field that attracts a movable iron bar, causing it to pivot and open or close the switch.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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