Relay Meaning
/ˈɹiːleɪ/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA new set of hounds.
nounA new set of horses kept along a specific route so that they can replace animals that are tired.
Sentence Examples
A runner must pass the baton in a relay race.
We're one baton short for the relay.
They raced to a thrilling victory in the relay.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The soldier was ordered to ____ the commander's message to the troops immediately.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The team ran the four-by-one-hundred-meter ____ and set a new national record.
Word Origin & History
From Middle French relai (“reserve pack of hounds”), from relaier (“to exchange tired animals for fresh”); literally, "to leave behind", from Old French relaier (“to leave behind”), from re- + laier (“to leave”), of uncertain origin.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"There is a snaky gleam in her hard grey eye, as of anticipated rounds of buttered toast, relays of hot chops, worryings and quellings of young children, sharp snappings at poor Berry, and all the other delights of her Ogress's castle."
— 1846 October 1 – 1848 April 1, Charles Dickens, “Retribution”, in Dombey and Son, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1848, →OCLC, page 594:
"Bank-notes fluttered down and lay about in all directions, relays of sovereigns rolled away like so much dross, […]"
— 1914, Ernest Bramah, Max Carrados:
"Over this section the 16th class are allowed to haul 800 tons, compared with 600 tons only by the 13th and 14th, and 450 tons by the 12th class engines, and in this way, without any expenditure on civil engineering works or relaying with heavier rails, the introduction of the 16th class has almost doubled the line capacity."
— 1940 December, O. S. M. Raw, “The Rhodesia Railways—II”, in Railway Magazine, page 640:
"A reader writes that some Ballachulish branch services are still worked by Class 2 2-6-0s Nos. 46460 and 78052, which have had to be retained at Oban until a tight curve on the outside line of the railway pier, used by coal and oil traffic for the island steamers, has been relaid to standards suitable for the diesels."
— 1962 December, “Motive Power Miscellany: Scottish Region”, in Modern Railways, page 427:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The soldier was ordered to ____ the commander's message to the troops immediately.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The team ran the four-by-one-hundred-meter ____ and set a new national record.