replacement
Americannoun
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replacements
plural
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the act of replacing.
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a person or thing that replaces another.
summer replacements for vacationing staff; a replacement for a broken dish.
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Military. a sailor, soldier, or airman assigned to fill a vacancy in a military unit.
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Also called metasomatism. Geology. the process of practically simultaneous removal and deposition by which a new mineral grows in the body of an old one.
noun
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the act or process of replacing
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a person or thing that replaces another
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geology the growth of a mineral within another of different chemical composition by gradual simultaneous deposition and removal
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Also called: petrification. a process of fossilization by gradual substitution of mineral matter for the original organic matter
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of replacement
Explanation
A replacement is the thing that fills in for something that's missing, or the act of substituting for the missing thing. The replacement for your absent teacher is an annoying substitute. Sigh. When kids lose their baby teeth, replacements soon grow in their places. And when kids need to have their teeth cleaned but their dentist is on vacation, her replacement will be in charge of taking x-rays and checking for cavities. Replacement comes from the verb replace, which adds the "back" prefix re- to place, "to put somewhere."
Vocabulary lists containing replacement
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:
She also wants guaranteed replacement costs for total losses.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
Under current law, when an elected official is recalled in California, the election for their replacement occurs at the same time.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
Or, worse, calling the board’s chair to complain about their replacement?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026
Dev Ittycheria, who served as MongoDB’s CEO for more than a decade through 2025, is reassuming the top post in an interim capacity while the company searches for a full-time replacement for Desai.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 28, 2026
Davey Cantor, one of the boys who acted as a replacement if a first-stringer had to leave the game, was standing near the wire screen behind home plate.
From "The Chosen" by Chaim Potok
Costco has a legendarily flexible return policy, offering customers either replacements or refunds.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026
Musk canceled Tesla’s luxury Models S and X without replacements as he focuses on fully autonomous vehicles and humanoid robots.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 13, 2026
Qatar gave the luxury Boeing 747 jet to the United States in 2025, after Trump complained about the ageing current presidential planes and delays to the delivery of their planned replacements.
From Barron's ● Sep. 4, 2026
It’s important to know the best days for the Eagles are ahead as their young replacements receive early-season experience in anticipation of becoming much better later in the season.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026
The strain and pressure of operating Bush Hill might have driven less dedicated individuals to give up or ask for replacements.
From "An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793" by Jim Murphy
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
