How to Use rely on/upon in a Sentence

rely on/upon

phrasal verb
  • Can the 49ers rely on Moody to make a clutch kick with a championship on the line?
    Joseph Dycus, The Mercury News, 9 Feb. 2024
  • The judge must rely on her wits, strength and skill to find a way to end the standoff, save the hostages and fight her way out.
    Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 26 June 2023
  • Most Gazans live in refugee camps and rely on U.N. rations.
    Bryan Pietsch, Washington Post, 9 Oct. 2023
  • In fact, so many travelers rely on it that more than 3,000 were sold in the last month.
    Katie Jackson, Travel + Leisure, 23 June 2024
  • Two of the four charges in the case before the Supreme Court Thursday rely on portions of the same statute at issue in that case.
    USA TODAY, 24 Apr. 2024
  • For the Armstrong family’s side of the story, Chim had to rely on the public record.
    Chris Klimek, Smithsonian Magazine, 15 May 2023
  • Unlike the Instant Pot, the Dream Cooker doesn’t rely on a ton of presets.
    Carina Finn, Bon Appétit, 5 Jan. 2024
  • Tolver said players don’t have to rely on companies to come to them.
    Kirk Kenney, San Diego Union-Tribune, 10 June 2023
  • South Korea and Japan rely on China for more than 90 percent of their graphite needs.
    Lily Kuo, Washington Post, 29 Nov. 2023
  • Not having someone to rely on can drive up trips to the emergency room, the survey found.
    Byalexa Mikhail, Fortune Well, 15 Nov. 2023
  • One way to incite fear is to rely on stereotypes, experts say.
    Kiara Alfonseca, ABC News, 7 July 2023
  • Many of us rely on the app for news, activism and entertainment.
    Marium Zahra, Sun Sentinel, 2 July 2024
  • But few rely on it to ensure safety in relation to the core function of their app.
    Khadijah Khogeer, NBC News, 19 July 2023
  • After adult salmon have spawned and died off in the fall, the Yurok people rely on the long, ugly fish for sustenance in the winter months.
    oregonlive, 17 June 2023
  • The Hoover CleanSlate Plus, unlike many of the other picks on our list of best steam cleaners, doesn’t rely on just water to clean.
    Paige Bennett, Better Homes & Gardens, 7 July 2023
  • She’s had to rely on her 401(k) retirement savings to support her and her son more than once.
    Nicole Goodkind, CNN, 2 Apr. 2024
  • There is a reason Smith does not have a solid statutory crime to rely on.
    The Editors, National Review, 2 Aug. 2023
  • Imagine trying to make anyone feel bad that can't provide a yard of their own and has to rely on public parks.
    Brenton Blanchet, Peoplemag, 2 Aug. 2023
  • The script had no dialogue The Blair Witch Project didn’t rely on a conventional script.
    Maddie Garfinkle, Peoplemag, 30 July 2024
  • While the numbers this year may be smaller, many voters have embraced mail voting and come to rely on it.
    David Sharp, Chicago Tribune, 16 Sep. 2024
  • But others, like the city of San Diego, rely on the authority for as much as 90 percent of their water.
    David Garrick, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 Apr. 2024
  • With limited power, food and water, the crew had to rely on the Lunar Module, which was meant for the moon landing, as a lifeboat.
    Maddie Garfinkle, Peoplemag, 5 Sep. 2024
  • ICBMs rely on booster rockets to blast them through the Earth’s atmosphere.
    Ramin Skibba, WIRED, 14 Aug. 2023
  • Instead, the pair of students used a trigonometric rule called the Law of Sines, which does not rely on the Pythagorean theorem.
    Alexa Robles-Gil, Smithsonian Magazine, 30 Oct. 2024
  • Put your money in sectors that cater to a svelte and sated brand of consumer, and get out of the ones that rely on excess and compulsion.
    Damian Garde, STAT, 18 Oct. 2023
  • Some fish and microorganisms lay their eggs in the fall, then rely on ice for protection during the winter.
    Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 4 Jan. 2024
  • For owners, officials rely on surveys that ask what their home might rent for in the market.
    Jennifer Morris, The Mercury News, 27 May 2024
  • The Rohingya are banned from working and rely on food rations, which have been slashed due to a drop in global donations.
    Kristen Gelineau, BostonGlobe.com, 6 June 2023
  • Some groups that Democrats rely on in national elections say their minds aren't firmly made up.
    Susan Page, USA TODAY, 6 May 2024
  • In the past, managers could rely on administrative or knowledge-based work to cover for weaker people skills.
    Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune, 31 Oct. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'rely on/upon.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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