Relay vs Decay - What's the difference?
relay | decay |
(by extension) A new set of anything.
* Charles Dickens, Dombey and Son
A series of vehicles travelling in sequence.
(athletics) A track and field discipline where runners take turns in carrying a baton from start to finish. Most common events are 4x100 meter and 4x400 meter competitions.
(electronics) An electrical actuator that allows a relatively small electrical voltage or current to control a larger voltage or current.
(obsolete, intransitive, hunting) To release a new set of hounds.
To pass on or transfer (information).
The process or result of being gradually decomposed.
* 1895 , H. G. Wells, The Time Machine Chapter X
A deterioration of condition.
To deteriorate, to get worse, to lose strength or health, to decline in quality.
# (intransitive, electronics, of storage media or the data on them) To undergo , that is, gradual degradation.
# (intransitive, computing, of software) To undergo , that is, to fail to be updated in a changing environment,so as to eventually become legacy or obsolete.
# (intransitive, physics, of a satellite's orbit) To undergo prolonged reduction in altitude (above the orbited body).
(of organic material) To rot, to go bad.
(intransitive, transitive, physics, chemistry, of an unstable atom) To change by undergoing fission, by emitting radiation, or by capturing or losing one or more electrons.
* 2005 , Encyclopedia of Earth Science (edited by Timothy M. Kusky; ISBN 0-8160-4973-4), page 349:
(intransitive, transitive, physics, of a quantum system) To undergo , that is, to relax to a less excited state, usually by emitting a photon or phonon.
(aviation)
To cause to rot or deteriorate.
* Shakespeare
In lang=en terms the difference between relay and decay
is that relay is to pass on or transfer (information) while decay is to cause to rot or deteriorate.As nouns the difference between relay and decay
is that relay is while decay is the process or result of being gradually decomposed.As verbs the difference between relay and decay
is that relay is (obsolete|intransitive|hunting) to release a new set of hounds or relay can be while decay is to deteriorate, to get worse, to lose strength or health, to decline in quality.relay
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) , of uncertain origin.Noun
(en noun)- There is a snaky gleam in her hard grey eye, as of anticipated rounds of buttered toast, relays of hot chops, worryings and quellings of young children, sharp snappings at poor Berry, and all the other delights of her Ogress's castle.
Derived terms
* relay raceVerb
(en verb)Synonyms
* (to relay a message) conveyEtymology 2
decay
English
(wikipedia decay)Noun
- I fancied at first the stuff was paraffin wax, and smashed the jar accordingly. But the odor of camphor was unmistakable. It struck me as singularly odd, that among the universal decay , this volatile substance had chanced to survive, perhaps through many thousand years.
Derived terms
* bacterial decay * decayability * decayable * decayer * orbital decay * particle decay * radioactive decayVerb
(en verb)- The pair loved to take pictures in the decaying hospital on forty-third street.
- 2009 , Francis Lyall, Paul B. Larsen, Space Law: A Treatise , page 120:
- Damaged on lift-off, Skylab was left in orbit until its orbit decayed .
- The cat's body decayed rapidly.
- Uranium decays to radium through a long series of steps with a cumulative half-life of 4.4 billion years.
- The extreme humidity decayed the wooden sculptures in the museum's collection in a matter of years.
- Infirmity, that decays the wise.
