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definitions
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place

[pleys]
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noun
  1. a particular portion of space, whether of definite or indefinite extent.
  2. space in general: time and place.
  3. the specific portion of space normally occupied by anything: The vase is in its place. Every item on the shelf had its place.
  4. a space, area, or spot, set apart or used for a particular purpose: a place of worship; a place of entertainment.
  5. any part or spot in a body or surface: a decayed place in a tree.
  6. a particular passage in a book or writing: to find the place where one left off reading.
  7. a space or seat for a person, as in a theater, train, etc.: Please save my place for me.
  8. position, situation, or circumstances: I would complain if I were in your place.
  9. a proper or appropriate location or position: A restaurant is not the place for an argument.
  10. a job, post, or office: persons in high places.
  11. a function or duty: It is not your place to offer criticism.
  12. proper sequence or relationship, as of ideas, details, etc.: My thoughts began to fall into place.
  13. high position or rank: aristocrats of power and place.
  14. a region or area: to travel to distant places.
  15. an open space, or square, as in a city or town.
  16. a short street, a court, etc.
  17. a portion of space used for habitation, as a city, town, or village: Trains rarely stop in that place anymore.
  18. a building, location, etc., set aside for a specific purpose: He will soon need a larger place for his expanding business.
  19. a part of a building: The kitchen is the sunniest place in the house.
  20. a residence, dwelling, or house: Please come and have dinner at my place.
  21. lieu; substitution (usually followed by of): Use yogurt in place of sour cream.
  22. a step or point in order of proceeding: in the first place.
  23. a fitting or promising opportunity: There's a place in this town for a man of his talents.
  24. a reasonable ground or occasion: This is no place for such an outburst.
  25. Arithmetic.
    1. the position of a figure in a series, as in decimal notation.
    2. Usually places.the figures of the series.
  26. Drama. one of the three unities.Compare unity(def 8).
  27. Sports.
    1. a position among the leading competitors, usually the first, second, or third at the finish line.
    2. the position of the competitor who comes in second in a horse race, harness race, etc.Compare show(def 27), win1(def 17).
  28. places, Theater. a call summoning performers for the beginning of a performance or an act.
  29. room or space for entry or passage: to make place for the gentry.
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verb (used with object), placed, plac·ing.
  1. to put in the proper position or order; arrange; dispose: Place the silverware on the table for dinner.
  2. to put or set in a particular place, position, situation, or relation.
  3. to put in a suitable place for some purpose: to place an advertisement in the newspaper.
  4. to put into particular or proper hands: to place some incriminating evidence with the district attorney.
  5. to give (an order or the like) to a supplier: She placed the order for the pizza an hour ago.
  6. to appoint (a person) to a post or office: The president placed him in the Department of Agriculture.
  7. to find a place, situation, etc., for (a person): The agency had no trouble placing him with a good firm.
  8. to determine or indicate the place or value of: to place health among the greatest gifts in life.
  9. to assign a certain position or rank to: The army placed him in the infantry.
  10. to succeed in attaining a position for in an athletic or other contest: to place players on the all-American team; to place students in the finals of the interscholastic chess tournament.
  11. to identify by connecting with the proper place, circumstances, etc.: to be unable to place a person; to place a face; to place an accent.
  12. to employ (the voice) for singing or speaking with consciousness of the bodily point of emphasis of resonance of each tone or register.
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verb (used without object), placed, plac·ing.
  1. Sports.
    1. to finish among the first three competitors in a race.
    2. to finish second in a horse race, harness race, etc.
  2. to earn a specified standing with relation to others, as in an examination, competition, etc.: He placed fifth in a graduation class of 90.
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Idioms
  1. give place to,
    1. to give precedence or priority to: The old gives place to the new.
    2. to be succeeded or replaced by: Travel by trains has given place to travel by airplanes.
  2. go places, Informal. to succeed or advance in one's career: He'll never go places if he stays in his hometown.
  3. in place,
    1. in the correct or usual position or order: Dinner is ready and everything is in place.
    2. in the same spot, without advancing or retreating: Stand by your desk and jog in place for a few minutes of exercise.
  4. know/keep one's place, to recognize one's position or rank, especially if inferior, and behave or act accordingly: They treated their servants well but expected them always to know their place.
  5. out of place,
    1. not in the correct or usual position or order: The library books are all out of place.
    2. unsuitable to the circumstances or surroundings; inappropriate: He had always felt out of place in an academic environment. A green suit was out of place at the funeral.
  6. put someone in his/her place, to lower someone's self-esteem; humble, especially an arrogant person: She put me in my place by reminding me who was boss.
  7. take place, to happen; occur: The commencement exercises will take place outdoors unless it rains.
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Origin of place

before 950; (noun) Middle English, conflation of Old English plæce and Middle French place, both < Latin platea, variant of platēa street, courtyard, area < Greek plateîa broad street, noun use of feminine of platýs broad, flat1; (v.) late Middle English, derivative of the noun; see platy-
Related formsplace·a·ble, adjectiveplace·less, adjectiveplace·less·ly, adverbpre·place, verb (used with object), pre·placed, pre·plac·ing.un·placed, adjectivewell-placed, adjective

Synonyms

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1. location, locale, locality, site. 10. rank, employment. See position. 11. charge, responsibility. 14. section, sector. 30. situate, station. See put. 32. locate, set, deposit, lay, seat. 35. hire.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

neighborhoodpointhousesitecommunityseatvillagehomecityapartmentzoneareafieldspotpartcornersituationholetownberth

Examples from the Web for places

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • I've knocked about in all sorts of places, and it won't be the first time I've served as cook.

    Brave and Bold

    Horatio Alger

  • It must not be supposed that this spring day in the spring places had reformed his manner of delivery.

    The Spenders

    Harry Leon Wilson

  • The ablutionary fluid is most difficult to be had in places where water is abundant.

  • Slowly and reluctantly, the sailors took their places, for Robert was a favorite with them.

    Brave and Bold

    Horatio Alger

  • There are places where no girl can get work unless she's pulchritudinous.

British Dictionary definitions for places

place

noun
  1. a particular point or part of space or of a surface, esp that occupied by a person or thing
  2. a geographical point, such as a town, city, etc
  3. a position or rank in a sequence or order
    1. an open square lined with houses of a similar type in a city or town
    2. (capital when part of a street name)Grosvenor Place
  5. space or room
  6. a house or living quarters
  7. a country house with grounds
  8. any building or area set aside for a specific purpose
  9. a passage in a book, play, film, etcto lose one's place
  10. proper or appropriate position or timehe still thinks a woman's place is in the home
  11. right or original positionput it back in its place
  12. suitable, appropriate, or customary surroundings (esp in the phrases out of place, in place)
  13. right, prerogative, or dutyit is your place to give a speech
  14. appointment, position, or joba place at college
  15. position, condition, or stateif I were in your place
    1. a space or seat, as at a dining table
    2. (as modifier)place mat
  17. maths the relative position of a digit in a numberSee also decimal place
  18. any of the best times in a race
  19. horse racing
    1. Britishthe first, second, or third position at the finish
    2. US and Canadianthe first or usually the second position at the finish
    3. (as modifier)a place bet
  20. theatre one of the three unitiesSee unity (def. 8)
  21. archaic an important position, rank, or role
  22. all over the place in disorder or disarray
  23. another place British parliamentary procedure
    1. (in the House of Commons) the House of Lords
    2. (in the House of Lords) the House of Commons
  24. give place to someone to make room for or be superseded by someone
  25. go places informal
    1. to travel
    2. to become successful
  26. in place of
    1. instead of; in lieu ofgo in place of my sister
    2. in exchange forhe gave her it in place of her ring
  27. know one's place to be aware of one's inferior position
  28. pride of place the highest or foremost position
  29. put someone in his place to humble someone who is arrogant, conceited, forward, etc
  30. take one's place to take up one's usual or specified position
  31. take the place of to be a substitute for
  32. take place to happen or occur
  33. the other place facetious
    1. (at Oxford University) Cambridge University
    2. (at Cambridge University) Oxford University
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verb (mainly tr)
  1. to put or set in a particular or appropriate place
  2. to find or indicate the place of
  3. to identify or classify by linking with an appropriate contextto place a face
  4. to regard or view as beingto place prosperity above sincerity
  5. to make (an order, a bet, etc)
  6. to find a home or job for (someone)
  7. to appoint to an office or position
  8. (often foll by with) to put under the care (of)
  9. to direct or aim carefully
  10. (passive) British to cause (a racehorse, greyhound, athlete, etc) to arrive in first, second, third, or sometimes fourth place
  11. (intr) US and Canadian (of a racehorse, greyhound, etc) to finish among the first three in a contest, esp in second position
  12. to invest (funds)
  13. to sing (a note) with accuracy of pitch
  14. to insert (an advertisement) in a newspaper, journal, etc
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Word Origin

C13: via Old French from Latin platēa courtyard, from Greek plateia, from platus broad; compare French plat flat

Place

noun
  1. Francis. 1771–1854, British radical, who campaigned for the repeal (1824) of the Combination Acts, which forbade the forming of trade unions, and for parliamentary reform
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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

Word Origin and History for places

place

n.

c.1200, "space, dimensional extent, room, area," from Old French place "place, spot" (12c.) and directly from Medieval Latin placea "place, spot," from Latin platea "courtyard, open space; broad way, avenue," from Greek plateia (hodos) "broad (way)," fem. of platys "broad" (see plaice).

Replaced Old English stow and stede. From mid-13c. as "particular part of space, extent, definite location, spot, site;" from early 14c. as "position or place occupied by custom, etc.; position on some social scale;" from late 14c. as "inhabited place, town, country," also "place on the surface of something, portion of something, part," also, "office, post." Meaning "group of houses in a town" is from 1580s.

Also from the same Latin source are Italian piazza, Catalan plassa, Spanish plaza, Middle Dutch plaetse, Dutch plaats, German Platz, Danish plads, Norwegian plass. Wide application in English covers meanings that in French require three words: place, lieu, and endroit. Cognate Italian piazza and Spanish plaza retain more of the etymological sense.

To take place "happen" is from mid-15c. To know (one's) place is from c.1600; hence figurative expression put (someone) in his or her place (1855). Place of worship attested from 1689, originally in official papers and in reference to assemblies of dissenters from the Church of England. All over the place "in disorder" is attested from 1923.

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place

v.

mid-15c., "to determine the position of;" also "to put (something somewhere)," from place (n.). In the horse racing sense of "to achieve a certain position" (usually in the top three finishers; in U.S., specifically second place) it is first attested 1924, from earlier meaning "to state the position of" (among the first three finishers), 1826. Related: Placed; placing. To take place "to happen, be accomplished" (mid-15c., earlier have place, late 14c.), translates French avoir lieu.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Idioms and Phrases with places

place

In addition to the idiom beginning with place

  • place in the sun

also see:

  • all over the place
  • between a rock and a hard place
  • fall in place
  • friend in court (high places)
  • go places
  • have one's heart in the right place
  • in place
  • in someone's shoes (place)
  • instead (in place) of
  • in the first place
  • jumping-off place
  • know one's place
  • out of place
  • pride of place
  • put someone in his or her place
  • run in place
  • take place
  • take someone's place
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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.