replay
Americanverb (used with object)
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replays,
present (3rd person singular)
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replayed,
past participle, past
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replaying
present participle
noun
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replays
plural
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an act or instance of replaying.
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a repetition of all or part of a broadcast or of the playing of a phonograph record, videocassette, etc.
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a rematch.
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Informal. a repetition, recurrence, or reenactment.
The recession could be a replay of the Great Depression.
noun
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Also called: action replay. television a showing again of a sequence of action, esp of part of a sporting contest immediately after it happens either in slow motion (a slow-motion replay ) or at normal speed
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a rematch
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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replaysimple
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replayssimple
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have replayedperfect
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has replayedperfect
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am replayingprogressive
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are replayingprogressive
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is replayingprogressive
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have been replayingperfect progressive
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has been replayingperfect progressive
Past
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replayedsimple
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had replayedperfect
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was replayingprogressive
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were replayingprogressive
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had been replayingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of replay
Explanation
When you replay something, you play it again, whether it's a soccer match or a blues tune on your guitar. You can even replay, or repeat, a happy event over and over again in your mind. If you take a video of your kitten playing with a ball of yarn, you can replay it any time you need a little cheering up. And in some sports, teams will replay a game that ends in a tie or is cancelled because of bad weather. This sports meaning is actually the oldest on record for replay, from an 1862 description of a curling match.
Vocabulary lists containing replay
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:
There’s some jostling over the job of backing up quarterback Justin Herbert, featuring a replay of last summer’s competition between Trey Lance and DJ Uiagalelei.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
These findings suggest that dreaming is not a simple replay system.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 27, 2026
If you’re an NFL or NBA fan and you’re worried the game isn’t going to be interrupted by a maddening, extended instant replay review, don’t worry: The World Cup has your ire covered.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
In the world of high stakes sporting events where everything and everyone hangs in the balance on outcome and fair play, video replay is essential to getting calls right.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 18, 2026
I replay Guardian’s sentence through my system: You are not meant to last forever.
From "A Rover's Story" by Jasmine Warga
Those types of visuals, going forward, won’t have the same unifying power in a world of customized angles and replays.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026
Without the use of video replays, its unlikely any of those calls would have been made and the World Cup quarterfinals would probably look quite different.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 2026
The cameras will act more like computers that also extract data and create 3-D digital twins of the action, which can be used for replays and other viewing experiences.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026
In the Premier League, there can be a tendency to procrastinate, to over-think by dwelling on replays.
From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026
They usually use it to show instant replays and commercials.
From "The Million Dollar Shot" by Dan Gutman
The hosts of the programs and their funniest bits are arguably seen by more people than ever before thanks to clips replayed on social media platforms.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 21, 2026
When Basaksehir refused to return, the match was abandoned and replayed the following day.
From BBC ● Mar. 18, 2026
That means everything from their facial expressions to the size of the bite are replayed, scrutinized or skewered by millions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 4, 2026
And when she welcomed past “Top Model” contenders to “The Tyra Banks Show,” including Sullivan, she replayed footage of her assault on air despite Sullivan expressly asking her not to.
From Salon ● Feb. 20, 2026
I replayed all of this sitting there in my car, in their clutches.
From "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Who’s going to be the brilliant video forensicist replaying Balogun’s red carded contact against the uncalled cleat of Leo Messi in Argentina’s opener?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
"I would wake up in the middle of the night replaying everything I had said and done."
From BBC ● Jan. 17, 2026
On the ride home, through the Lincoln Tunnel and back to New Jersey, my wife and I kept replaying the night.
From Slate ● Jun. 30, 2025
Remembering Judy Blume’s books without replaying our own childhood memories might be impossible.
From Salon ● May 21, 2025
I sat down in the shade beneath a sycamore tree, thinking of the unfilled hours ahead, replaying the conversation in the coffee shop, remembering the look on Martin’s face when he said good-bye to me.
From "The Girl on the Train" by Paula Hawkins
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
