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Showing results for emplace. Search instead for emplacing.
Synonyms

emplace

American  
[em-plays] / ɛmˈpleɪs /

verb (used with object)

emplaced, emplacing
  1. to put in place or position.

    A statue was emplaced in the square.


emplace British  
/ ɪmˈpleɪs /

verb

  1. (tr) to put in place or position

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of emplace

First recorded in 1860–65; back formation from emplacement


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:

“We simply will not allow Iran to emplace more mines.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 30, 2026

In Kempe’s view, Khrushchev’s success with Berlin emboldened him to emplace nuclear missiles in Cuba in October 1962.

From New York Times ● Jun. 10, 2011

For cases like this the system will have a range of watertight structures called caissons, which are based on the suction-pile technology used to emplace deep-sea moorings and foundations.

From Economist ● Aug. 12, 2010

A smooth sea enabled us to get more troops ashore and to emplace some artillery.

From Time Magazine Archive

If an enemy sovereign was slain, as apparently happened in Mutal, the conquerors often didn’t emplace a new one; kings were divine, and thus by definition irreplaceable.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

"Their magnetic fabrics help us determine whether deformation occurred before, during, or after the rocks were emplaced."

From Science Daily ● Sep. 9, 2026

The clock for the supposed Title 42 Armageddon was ticking down as I then crossed the bridge back to El Paso, where more barriers of razor wire had only recently been emplaced.

From Salon ● Jun. 8, 2023

Usually that would mean the nuclear device had been emplaced and the tunnel packed to contain the blast.

From Washington Times ● Aug. 24, 2022

An additional 150 miles of concertina wire will be emplaced by the end of March, he said.

From Washington Post ● Jan. 29, 2019

Alarmed by Massasoit’s sudden entrance, the Europeans withdrew to the hill on the opposite bank, where they had emplaced their few cannons behind a half-finished stockade.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

Drilling the repository and emplacing the waste only causes a 14-foot disturbed zone around the waste.

From Forbes ● Jan. 1, 2014

That fear was buttressed by the fact that seven Soviet divisions already were digging in along the West German border and emplacing tactical missiles.

From Time Magazine Archive

The Russians, then in the process of emplacing their "Galosh"* ABM system around Moscow and Leningrad, said they would think about it.

From Time Magazine Archive

General Brent Scowcroft, which had nevertheless favored emplacing a limited number of MX missiles while the Midgetman was being developed.

From Time Magazine Archive

There is very much to be said both for and against the policy of so emplacing the guns.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 6 "Foraminifera" to "Fox, Edward" by Various

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