‘接力’ (jiē lì) literally means ‘to receive strength’—‘接’ (jiē) means ‘to receive’ or ‘to take over’, and ‘力’ (lì) means ‘strength’ or ‘power’. Together, they form a compound noun referring to a relay race, where team members pass a baton to continue the race collectively. The term emphasizes cooperation, timing, and seamless transition of effort from one person to the next.

Beyond sports, ‘接力’ is also used metaphorically in contexts like work handovers, project succession, or even generational responsibility—for example, ‘接力传承’ (jiē lì chuán chéng) means ‘to pass on traditions through successive generations’. In everyday speech, it most commonly appears in school sports events, corporate team-building activities, or news reports about athletic competitions. While the characters individually carry broader meanings, ‘接力’ as a fixed two-character word almost always refers to the relay concept—not general ‘receiving power’.