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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

relay.

A new set of hounds.

5 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈɹiːleɪ/
  1. A new set of hounds.

    rare
  2. A new set of horses kept along a specific route so that they can replace animals that are tired.

    historical
  3. A new set of anything.

    broadly
  4. A series of vehicles travelling in sequence.

  5. A competition between teams where members of a team take turns completing parts of a course or performing a certain action.

  6. A competition between teams where members of a team take turns completing parts of a course or performing a certain action. A track and field discipline where runners take turns in carrying a baton from start to finish. The most common events are 4×100 meter and 4×400 meter competitions.

  7. An electrical actuator that allows a relatively small electrical voltage or current to control a larger voltage or current.

Where this word comes from

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.

verb/ɹiˈleɪ//ˈɹiːleɪ/
  1. To pass on or transfer (information).

    transitive
    The CCTV cameras relay what's going on to the headquarters.
    Can you relay this message to John?
  2. To release a new set of hounds.

    intransitive · obsolete
  3. To place (people or horses) in relays, such that one can take over from another.

    archaic · transitive
  4. To take on a new relay of horses; to change horses.

    archaic · intransitive
Where this word comes from

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.

verb/ˌɹiːˈleɪ/UK/ˌɹiˈleɪ/US
  1. Alternative spelling of re-lay.

    alt-of · alternative
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Italic *wre- Latin re-der. Old French re-bor. Middle English re- English re- Old English læġ English lay English relay From re- + lay.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.