replace

[ri-pleys]

verb (used with object)

replaced, replacing 

1. to assume the former role, position, or function of; substitute for (a person or thing).

   Electricity has replaced gas in lighting.

   Synonyms: succeed

2. to provide a substitute or equivalent in the place of.

   to replace a broken dish.

3. to restore; return; make good.

   to replace a sum of money borrowed.

   Synonyms: repay, refund

4. to restore to a former or the proper place.

   to replace the vase on the table.

replace

/ rɪˈpleɪs /

verb

1. to take the place of; supersede

   the manual worker is being replaced by the machine

2. to substitute a person or thing for (another which has ceased to fulfil its function); put in place of

   to replace an old pair of shoes

3. to put back or return; restore to its rightful place

Other Word Forms

• replaceability noun
• replaceable adjective
• replacer noun
• nonreplaceable adjective
• quasi-replaced adjective
• unreplaceable adjective
• unreplaced adjective
• well-replaced adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of replace¹

First recorded in 1585–95; re- + place

Synonym Study

Replace, supersede, supplant refer to putting one thing or person in place of another. To replace is to take the place of, to succeed: Ms. Jones will replace Mr. Smith as president. Supersede implies that that which is replacing another is an improvement: The computer has superseded the typewriter. Supplant implies that that which takes the other's place has ousted the former holder and usurped the position or function, especially by art or fraud: to supplant a former favorite.

Example Sentences

“Artificial intelligence is going to replace literally half of all white-collar workers in the U.S.,”

Read more on Wall Street Journal

When companies are looking to replace a founder, they may be loath to pick one internal executive over another, fearing the person who doesn’t get the job will soon quit.

Read more on Wall Street Journal

“The larger problem is that altering norms, once they’ve been shattered and replaced by others, is even harder than coming up with new laws,” Ornstein said.

Read more on Salon

Although green social prescribing is designed to complement, not replace, conventional medical treatments and therapies, there are some who fear it does not deal with the bigger social health issues around mental health.

Read more on BBC

Despite being barred from running herself, she succeeded in uniting an often fractured opposition behind the little-known candidate who replaced her on the ballot, Edmundo González.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• change 
• follow 
• oust 
• recover 
• reinstate 
• restore 
• succeed 
• supplant 
• supply 
• take over 
• take over from www.thesaurus.com