Library / English Dictionary

RELY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected form: relied   

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Have faith or confidence in

Example:

Depend on your family in times of crisis

Synonyms:

bank; bet; calculate; count; depend; look; reckon; rely; swear

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

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

trust (have confidence or faith in)

Sentence frames:

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

Derivation:

reliance (certainty based on past experience)

reliance (the state of relying on something)

reliant (relying on another for support)

Credits

 Context examples: 

Many such devices rely on color changes to report a result, but they often aren't very sensitive.

(New Type of Battery Created from Paper, Fueled by Bacteria, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Scientists think their findings prove animal intelligence doesn't always have to rely on a larger number of neurons.

(Scientists Discover Bees Can Count Using Only Four Brain Cells, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

As a member of the TNF receptor family, CD40 relies on interaction with TRAF proteins to mediate an intracellular signal in response to CD40L binding.

(CD40L Signaling Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

They accomplished this by taking advantage of 'optogenetics', an approach relying on proteins that change their activity on demand with light.

(Researchers Develop Insulin-Producing Cells Activated by Light for Diabetes, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Integrins do not themselves possess a kinase domain or enzymatic activity but rely on association with other signaling molecules to transmit signals.

(Integrin Signaling Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

You feel that you have no longer any friend to whom you can speak with unreserve, on whose regard you can place dependence, or whose counsel, in any difficulty, you could rely on.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

Now, we've only one man to rely on.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Our first care was to make some sort of list of our own stores, so that we might know what we had to rely upon.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Report to me if anything fresh occurs, and rely upon my assistance if it should be needed.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

In such an exigence, my uncle's advice and assistance would be everything in the world; he will immediately comprehend what I must feel, and I rely upon his goodness.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)