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

• replaceable adjective
• replaceability noun
• 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 Supersede implies that that which is replacing another is an improvement: The computer has superseded the typewriter.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

Phillips has come under sustained pressure after four members of the survivors panel of the grooming gang inquiry quit and said they would only re-join it if the minister was replaced.

Read more on BBC

It’s not that I wanted to replace my son, but I did want a different kind of birth experience.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

To replace some of these officials, the party promoted 11 alternates to full membership of the Central Committee at this week’s plenum.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Some Amazon-watchers have conjectured that the glitch may be connected to mass layoffs the company implemented in the summer in its cloud computing unit, with the jobs purportedly replaced by artificial intelligence.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Officials with the gas company said they have shored up the facility, including replacing the inner steel tubing on all operating wells and conducting continuous ambient methane monitoring.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

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