Library / English Dictionary

RELAY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

The act of passing something along from one person or group to another

Example:

the relay was successful

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("relay" is a kind of...):

handing over; passage (the act of passing something to another person)

Derivation:

relay (pass along)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Electrical device such that current flowing through it in one circuit can switch on and off a current in a second circuit

Synonyms:

electrical relay; relay

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("relay" is a kind of...):

electrical device (a device that produces or is powered by electricity)

Meronyms (parts of "relay"):

electromagnet (a temporary magnet made by coiling wire around an iron core; when current flows in the coil the iron becomes a magnet)

Holonyms ("relay" is a part of...):

circuit; electric circuit; electrical circuit (an electrical device that provides a path for electrical current to flow)

Derivation:

relay (control or operate by relay)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A race between teams; each member runs or swims part of the distance

Synonyms:

relay; relay race

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Hypernyms ("relay" is a kind of...):

race (a contest of speed)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "relay"):

torch race ((ancient Greece) in which a torch is passed from one runner to the next)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A fresh team to relieve weary draft animals

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Hypernyms ("relay" is a kind of...):

team (two or more draft animals that work together to pull something)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A crew of workers who relieve another crew

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Hypernyms ("relay" is a kind of...):

shift (a crew of workers who work for a specific period of time)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Pass along

Example:

Please relay the news to the villagers

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "relay" is one way to...):

communicate; pass; pass along; pass on; put across (transmit information)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something to somebody

Sentence examples:

They relay them the information

They relay the information to them

Derivation:

relay (the act of passing something along from one person or group to another)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Control or operate by relay

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "relay" is one way to...):

control; operate (handle and cause to function)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

relay (electrical device such that current flowing through it in one circuit can switch on and off a current in a second circuit)

Credits

 Context examples: 

When Cassini first begins to encounter Saturn's atmosphere, the spacecraft's attitude control thrusters will begin firing in short bursts to work against the thin gas and keep Cassini's saucer-shaped high-gain antenna pointed at Earth to relay the mission's precious final data.

(Cassini Spacecraft Makes Its Final Approach to Saturn, NASA)

Through projections to various brain regions including relay nuclei of the autonomic nervous system, hypothalamic regions and the central nucleus of the amygdala, the BNST controls endocrine and autonomic reactions in response to emotionally-salient stimuli, along with behavioral expression of anxiety and fear, Science Daily reported.

(The Secret Connection between Anxiety, Sleep, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Autonomic activity is controlled and integrated by the central nervous system, especially the hypothalamus and the solitary nucleus, which receive information relayed from VISCERAL AFFERENTS; these and related central and sensory structures are sometimes (but not here) considered to be part of the autonomic nervous system itself.

(Autonomic nervous system, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

A new study suggests that the NMDA receptor, a protein normally associated with learning and memory, may help neurons in the eye and the brain relay that information.

(Eye cells may use math to detect motion, NIH)

The landing signal was relayed to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, via NASA's two small experimental Mars Cube One (MarCO) CubeSats, which launched on the same rocket as InSight and followed the lander to Mars.

(NASA InSight Lander Arrives on Martian Surface, NASA)

The results of this study support a growing body of evidence suggesting that NMDA receptors play in critical role in how neurons relay information.

(Eye cells may use math to detect motion, NIH)