rely on/upon

phrasal verb

relied on/upon; relying on/upon; relies on/upon

1

: to need (someone or something) for support, help, etc. : to depend on (someone or something)

My mother relied on me for financial support.

They rely on a well for all their water.

2

: to trust or believe (someone or something)

She's someone you can rely on.

I relied heavily upon your advice.

You could always rely on him to disagree.

3

: to expect (something) with confidence : to be certain that (something) will happen or exist

The economy may improve next year, but it's not something you can rely on.

Examples of rely on/upon in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

So, what do economists rely on to predict recessions? —Russ Wiles, USA Today, 24 Apr. 2025

Security teams often rely on a patchwork of siloed tools that don’t communicate with each other. —Roi Cohen, Forbes.com, 23 Apr. 2025

States rely on, and benefit from, the expertise and bipartisan nature of the FTC to protect their consumers. —Ross Rosenfeld, MSNBC Newsweek, 23 Apr. 2025

Anadolu | Anadolu | Getty Images Tesla CEO Elon Musk says China’s new trade restrictions on rare earth magnets have affected the production of the company’s Optimus humanoid robots, which rely on the exports. —Dylan Butts, CNBC, 23 Apr. 2025