position

[ puh-zish-uhn ]

/ pəˈzɪʃ ən /

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See synonyms for: position / positioned / positioning / positions on Thesaurus.com

noun

condition with reference to place; location; situation.

a place occupied or to be occupied; site: a fortified position.

the proper, appropriate, or usual place: out of position.

situation or condition, especially with relation to favorable or unfavorable circumstances: to be in an awkward position; to bargain from a position of strength.

status or standing: He has a position to maintain in the community.

high standing, as in society; important status: a person of wealth and position.

a post of employment: a position in a bank.

manner of being placed, disposed, or arranged: the relative position of the hands of a clock.

bodily posture or attitude: to be in a sitting position.

mental attitude; stand: one's position on a controversial topic.

the act of positing.

something that is posited.

Ballet. any of the five basic positions of the feet with which every step or movement begins and ends.Compare first position, second position, third position, fourth position, fifth position.

Music.

the arrangement of tones in a chord, especially with regard to the location of the root tone in a triad or to the distance of the tones from each other.Compare close position, inversion (def. 8a), open position, root position.
any of the places on the fingerboard of a stringed instrument where the fingers stop the strings to produce the variouspitches.
any of the places to which the slide of a trombone is shifted to produce changes in pitch.

Finance. a commitment to buy or sell securities: He took a large position in defense stocks.

Classical Prosody. the situation of a short vowel before two or more consonants or their equivalent, making the syllable metrically long.

verb (used with object)

to put in a particular or appropriate position; place.

to determine the position of; locate.

OTHER WORDS FOR position

2 station, locality, spot.

5 rank.

8 placement, disposition, array, arrangement.

12 proposition, hypothesis, postulate, thesis; dictum, assertion, predication, contention; doctrine, principle.

17 situate.

See synonyms for position on Thesaurus.com

QUIZ

CAN YOU ANSWER THESE COMMON GRAMMAR DEBATES?

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Question 1 of 7

Which sentence is correct?

His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

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Origin of position

First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English posicioun “a positing” (from Anglo-French ), from Latin positiōn- (stem of positiō) “a placing, etc.” See posit, -ion

synonym study for position

7. Position, job, place, situation refer to a post of employment. Position is any employment, though usually above manual labor: a position as clerk. Job is colloquial for position, and applies to any work from lowest to highest in an organization: a job as cook, as manager. Place and situation are both mainly used today in reference to a position that is desired or being applied for; situation is the general word in the business world: Situations Wanted; place is used rather of domestic employment: He is looking for a place as a gardener.
9. Position, posture, attitude, pose refer to an arrangement or disposal of the body or its parts. Position is the general word for the arrangement of the body: in a reclining position. Posture is usually an assumed arrangement of the body, especially when standing: a relaxed posture. Attitude is often a posture assumed for imitative effect or the like, but may be one adopted for a purpose (as that of a fencer or a tightrope walker): an attitude of prayer. A pose is an attitude assumed, in most cases, for artistic effect: an attractive pose.

OTHER WORDS FROM position

po·si·tion·al, adjectivepo·si·tion·less, adjectivemis·po·si·tion, verb (used with object)well-po·si·tioned, adjective

Words nearby position

posigrade rocket, posing, posit, posited, positif, position, positional notation, position angle, position audit, position effect, positioner

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use position in a sentence

The scanner is light and super easy to use, and you can even put it away in a vertical position to make room for drawing when you’re done.
Must-have art supplies to let your inner creative shine|Sandra Gutierrez G.|February 11, 2021|Popular-Science
Ironically, it is elderly men in senior positions who often have a reputation for talking endlessly during meetings and resenting any challenge to their authority, especially from women, experts say.
Japan Olympics chief who said women talk too much will resign over remarks, reports say|Simon Denyer, Julia Mio Inuma|February 11, 2021|Washington Post
If I were actually applying for a position, the system would compare my scores with those of employees already working in that job.
Auditors are testing hiring algorithms for bias, but there’s no easy fix|Amy Nordrum|February 11, 2021|MIT Technology Review
We are disgusted and outraged that someone in a position of power and trust would use it for these means.
Lincoln Project’s avowed ignorance of Weaver texts undercut by leaked communications|Chris Johnson|February 9, 2021|Washington Blade

It’s more that he’s in a better position to do the things that make him such a great player.
Joel Embiid Changed His Offseason Conditioning. Now He’s Playing Like An MVP.|Yaron Weitzman|February 9, 2021|FiveThirtyEight
Satirists occupy a perilous position—to skewer dogma and cant, and to antagonize the establishment while needing its protection.
Harry Shearer on The Dangerous Business of Satire|Lloyd Grove|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
You have to acknowledge your age and position in life, for me quite a lot of those emotionally fueled songs were hormone songs.
Belle & Sebastian Aren’t So Shy Anymore|James Joiner|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
If the ball goes off the screen, it teleports back to the starting position.
Lost For Thousands of Strokes: 'Desert Golfing' Is 'Angry Birds' as Modern Art|Alec Kubas-Meyer|January 2, 2015|DAILY BEAST
In a 2009 interview, Church apostle Dallin H. Oaks held that the Church “does not have a position” on that point.
Your Husband Is Definitely Gay: TLC’s Painful Portrait of Mormonism|Samantha Allen|January 1, 2015|DAILY BEAST
And by the time an airplane was in the water, its exact position would be known.
Red Tape and Black Boxes: Why We Keep ‘Losing’ Airliners in 2014|Clive Irving|December 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In this position, the line of cavalry formed the chord of the arc described by the river, and occupied by us.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXXIX. January, 1844. Vol. LV.|Various
Polavieja, as everybody knew, was the chosen executive of the friars, whose only care was to secure their own position.
The Philippine Islands|John Foreman
Cousin George's position is such a happy one, that conversation is to him a thing superfluous.
Physiology of The Opera|John H. Swaby (AKA "Scrici")
It is only necessary to have a zinc, or a galvanized tray on which to stand the glass in an inverted position.
How to Know the Ferns|S. Leonard Bastin
The case may be kept in a light position, and when once under way it will rarely need any additional water.
How to Know the Ferns|S. Leonard Bastin

British Dictionary definitions for position

position

/ (pəˈzɪʃən) /

noun

the place, situation, or location of a person or thinghe took up a position to the rear

the appropriate or customary locationthe telescope is in position for use

the arrangement or disposition of the body or a part of the bodythe corpse was found in a sitting position

the manner in which a person or thing is placed; arrangement

military an area or point occupied for tactical reasons

mental attitude; point of view; standwhat's your position on this issue?

social status or standing, esp high social standing

a post of employment; job

the act of positing a fact or viewpoint

something posited, such as an idea, proposition, etc

sport the part of a field or playing area where a player is placed or where he generally operates

music

the vertical spacing or layout of the written notes in a chord. Chords arranged with the three upper voices close together are in close position . Chords whose notes are evenly or widely distributed are in open positionSee also root position
one of the points on the fingerboard of a stringed instrument, determining where a string is to be stopped

(in classical prosody)

the situation in which a short vowel may be regarded as long, that is, when it occurs before two or more consonants
make position (of a consonant, either on its own or in combination with other consonants, such as x in Latin) to cause a short vowel to become metrically long when placed after it

finance the market commitment of a dealer in securities, currencies, or commoditiesa long position; a short position

in a position (foll by an infinitive) able (to)I'm not in a position to reveal these figures

verb (tr)

to put in the proper or appropriate place; locate

sport to place (oneself or another player) in a particular part of the field or playing area

to put (someone or something) in a position (esp in relation to others) that confers a strategic advantage: he's trying to position himself for a leadership bid

marketing to promote (a product or service) by tailoring it to the needs of a specific market or by clearly differentiating it from its competitors (e.g. in terms of price or quality)

rare to locate or ascertain the position of

Derived forms of position

positional, adjective

Word Origin for position

C15: from Late Latin positiō a positioning, affirmation, from pōnere to place, lay down

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

position

OTHER WORDS FOR position

Origin of position

synonym study for position

OTHER WORDS FROM position

Words nearby position

Words related to position

How to use position in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for position

Derived forms of position

Word Origin for position