rely

verb

re·​ly ri-ˈlī How to pronounce rely (audio)
relied; relying

intransitive verb

1
: to be dependent
the system on which we rely for water
2
: to have confidence based on experience
someone you can rely on
relier noun

Examples of rely in a Sentence

rigorously tested the rope before starting out, for the rock climbers would be relying on it with their very lives
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Rather than spending countless hours manually crunching numbers in spreadsheets, employees will increasingly be able to rely on intelligent systems to do the heavy lifting. David Henkin, Forbes, 17 Dec. 2024 To form their answers, these LLMs rely on pretraining that metaphorically entails putting trillions of word fragments from existing texts, such as books and websites, into a large blender and coarsely mixing them. Jonathan L. Zittrain, The Atlantic, 17 Dec. 2024 The damage will be felt for years to come both within China and in countries that relied on strong Chinese demand to export their cars, commodities, and services. Daniel H. Rosen, Foreign Affairs, 17 Dec. 2024 Hospitals on the South Side have long faced financial struggles partly because many serve populations that rely heavily on Medicaid, a state and federally funded health insurance program that often doesn’t reimburse hospitals as well for care as private insurance. Lisa Schencker, Chicago Tribune, 17 Dec. 2024 See all Example Sentences for rely 

Word History

Etymology

Middle English relien to rally, from Anglo-French relier to retie, gather, rally, from Latin religare to tie out of the way, from re- + ligare to tie — more at ligature

First Known Use

1574, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of rely was in 1574

Dictionary Entries Near rely

Cite this Entry

“Rely.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rely. Accessed 25 Dec. 2024.

Kids Definition

rely

verb
re·​ly ri-ˈlī How to pronounce rely (audio)
relied; relying
1
: to have confidence based on experience
someone you can rely on
2
: to be dependent
the system on which we rely for water

Legal Definition

rely

intransitive verb
re·​ly
relied; relying
: to depend with confidence : place faith

More from Merriam-Webster on rely

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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