replacement
Americannoun
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replacements
plural
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the act of replacing.
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a person or thing that replaces another.
summer replacements for vacationing staff; a replacement for a broken dish.
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Military. a sailor, soldier, or airman assigned to fill a vacancy in a military unit.
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Also called metasomatism. Geology. the process of practically simultaneous removal and deposition by which a new mineral grows in the body of an old one.
noun
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the act or process of replacing
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a person or thing that replaces another
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geology the growth of a mineral within another of different chemical composition by gradual simultaneous deposition and removal
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Also called: petrification. a process of fossilization by gradual substitution of mineral matter for the original organic matter
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of replacement
Explanation
A replacement is the thing that fills in for something that's missing, or the act of substituting for the missing thing. The replacement for your absent teacher is an annoying substitute. Sigh. When kids lose their baby teeth, replacements soon grow in their places. And when kids need to have their teeth cleaned but their dentist is on vacation, her replacement will be in charge of taking x-rays and checking for cavities. Replacement comes from the verb replace, which adds the "back" prefix re- to place, "to put somewhere."
Vocabulary lists containing replacement
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Windscreen replacement and repair business Belron, which counts Autoglass in the U.K.,
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
But he has opposed closing the facility without a replacement, arguing that doing so would overcrowd other jail facilities.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
Jackson, on his third start, got his first Villa goal following his record £65m move from Chelsea as he starts proving he is a fitting replacement for the departed Ollie Watkins.
From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026
"We particularly want to address the issue of the potential replacement of people both by humanoid robots and by artificial intelligence in cognitive work," organiser Grzegorz Kulis told AFP.
From Barron's ● Sep. 7, 2026
Because we never solved the problem of cell replacement, as you pointed out.
From "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick
Hesson also refuted suggestions that Mohammad Imran and Mohammad Imran Jr were both called up as replacements because the PCB was confused by their names.
From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026
Qatar gave the luxury Boeing 747 jet to the United States in 2025, after Trump complained about the ageing current presidential planes and delays to the delivery of their planned replacements.
From Barron's ● Sep. 4, 2026
It’s important to know the best days for the Eagles are ahead as their young replacements receive early-season experience in anticipation of becoming much better later in the season.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026
The regulator has received nearly 500 complaints alleging engine failure in vehicles that had already been serviced under recall, including nearly two dozen that required complete engine replacements.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
In the absence of written records, the evidence of those prehistoric replacements must be sought in the archaeological record or inferred from linguistic evidence.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
