- place
- [[t]ple͟ɪs[/t]]
♦places, placing, placed1) N-COUNT: usu with supp A place is any point, building, area, town, or country.
...Temple Mount, the place where the Temple actually stood.
...a list of museums and places of interest...
We're going to a place called Mont-St-Jean.
...the opportunity to visit new places...
The best place to catch fish on a canal is close to a lock...
The pain is always in the same place.
2) N-SING: the N You can use the place to refer to the point, building, area, town, or country that you have already mentioned.Except for the remarkably tidy kitchen, the place was a mess...
For a ruin it was in good condition, as though the place was still being used.
3) N-COUNT: usu with supp You can refer to somewhere that provides a service, such as a hotel, restaurant, or institution, as a particular kind of place.He found a bed-and-breakfast place...
My wife and I discovered some superb places to eat...
My hospital is one of many places that benefited from the support of Queen Alexandra.
Syn:4) PHRASE: V inflects When something takes place, it happens, especially in a controlled or organized way.The discussion took place in a famous villa on the lake's shore...
She wanted Hugh's wedding to take place quickly...
Elections will now take place on November the twenty-fifth.
5) N-SING: det N Place can be used after `any', `no', `some', or `every' to mean `anywhere', `nowhere', `somewhere', or `everywhere'. [mainly AM, INFORMAL]The poor guy obviously didn't have any place to go for Easter...
Why not go out and see if there's some place we can dance?
6) ADV: ADV after v If you go places, you visit pleasant or interesting places. [mainly AM]I don't have money to go places...
People were talking to him, listening to him, taking him places.
7) N-COUNT: poss N You can refer to the position where something belongs, or where it is supposed to be, as its place.He returned the album to its place on the shelf...
He returned to his place on the sofa.
8) N-COUNT: usu with supp A place is a seat or position that is available for someone to occupy.He walked back to the table and sat at the nearest of two empty places...
I found a place to park beside a station wagon.
9) N-COUNT: with poss Someone's or something's place in a society, system, or situation is their position in relation to other people or things.They want to see more women take their place higher up the corporate or professional ladder...
It would be foolish to exclude Christianity from the curriculum, in view of its important place in our national culture.
10) N-COUNT: usu sing, usu ord N Your place in a race or competition is your position in relation to the other competitors. If you are in first place, you are ahead of all the other competitors.Jane's goals helped Britain win third place in the Barcelona games...
He has risen second place in the opinion polls.
11) N-COUNT: usu with supp If you get a place in a team, on a committee, or on a course of study, for example, you are accepted as a member of the team or committee or as a student on the course.He has found a place in the first team...
All the candidates won places on the ruling council...
I eventually got a place at York University...
They should be in residential care but there are no places available...
To book your place fill in the coupon on page 187 and return it by 1st October.
12) N-SING: with supp, oft N to-inf, N for n/-ing A good place to do something in a situation or activity is a good time or stage at which to do it.It seemed an appropriate place to end somehow...
This is not the place for a lengthy discussion.
Syn:13) N-COUNT: usu sing, usu poss N Your place is the house or flat where you live. [INFORMAL]Let's all go back to my place!...
He kept encouraging Rosie to find a place of her own.
14) N-COUNT: usu sing, usu poss N Your place in a book or speech is the point you have reached in reading the book or making the speech....her finger marking her place in the book...
He lost his place in his notes.
15) N-COUNT: usu num N If you say how many decimal places there are in a number, you are saying how many numbers there are to the right of the decimal point.A pocket calculator only works to eight decimal places.
16) VERB If you place something somewhere, you put it in a particular position, especially in a careful, firm, or deliberate way.[V n prep/adv] Brand folded it in his handkerchief and placed it in the inside pocket of his jacket...
[V n prep/adv] Chairs were hastily placed in rows for the parents.
Syn:17) VERB To place a person or thing in a particular state means to cause them to be in it.[V n prep] Widespread protests have placed the President under serious pressure...
[V n prep] The crisis could well place the relationship at risk...
[be V-ed prep] The remaining 30 percent of each army will be placed under UN control.
Syn:18) VERB You can use place instead of `put' or `lay' in certain expressions where the meaning is carried by the following noun. For example, if you place emphasis on something, you emphasize it, and if you place the blame on someone, you blame them.[V n on/upon n] We should teach the young by placing responsibility on them and by trusting them in real endeavors...
[V n on/upon n] He placed great emphasis on the importance of family life and ties...
[V n on/upon n] She seemed to be placing most of the blame on her mother...
[V n in n] His government is placing its faith in international diplomacy.
Syn:19) VERB If you place someone or something in a particular class or group, you label or judge them in that way.[V n prep] The authorities have placed the drug in Class A, the same category as heroin and cocaine...
[V n prep] Dr. Boris Sidis was a Russian-born psychiatrist who enjoyed considerable prestige; some placed him on a par with Pierre Janet and Morton Prince.
Syn:put, rank20) VERB: usu passive If a competitor is placed first, second, or last, for example, that is their position at the end of a race or competition. In American English, be placed often means `finish in second position'.[be V-ed ord] I had been placed 2nd and 3rd a few times but had never won...
[ord V-ed] Second-placed Auxerre suffered a surprising 2-0 home defeat to Nantes.
21) VERB If you place an order for a product or for a meal, you ask for it to be sent or brought to you.[V n] It is a good idea to place your order well in advance as delivery can often take months rather than weeks...
[V n] Before placing your order for a meal, study the menu.
22) VERB If you place an advertisement in a newspaper, you arrange for the advertisement to appear in the newspaper.Syn:23) VERB If you place a telephone call to a particular place, you give the telephone operator the number of the person you want to speak to and ask them to connect you.[V n] I'd like to place an overseas call.
24) VERB If you place a bet, you bet money on something.25) VERB If an agency or organization places someone, it finds them a job or somewhere to live.[V n in n] In 1861, they managed to place fourteen women in paid positions in the colonies...
[V n] In cases where it proves very difficult to place a child, the reception centre might end by providing relatively long-term care.
26) VERB If you say that you cannot place someone, you mean that you recognize them but cannot remember exactly who they are or where you have met them before.[V n] Something about the man was familiar, although Hillsden could not immediately place him...
[V n] It was a voice he recognized, though he could not immediately place it.
27) → See also meeting place28) PHRASE: PHR after v, v-link PHR If something is happening all over the place, it is happening in many different places.Businesses are closing down all over the place...
There are picket lines all over the place.
29) PHRASE: v-link PHR, PHR after v If things are all over the place, they are spread over a very large area, usually in a disorganized way.Our fingerprints are probably all over the place...
There was ammunition lying all over the place.
30) PHRASE: v-link PHR If you say that someone is all over the place, you mean that they are confused or disorganized, and unable to think clearly or act properly. [mainly BRIT]He was careful and diligent. I was all over the place.
31) PHR-RECIP: V inflects, pl-n PHR, PHR with n If you change places with another person, you start being in their situation or role, and they start being in yours.When he has tried to identify all the items, you can change places, and he can test you...
With his door key in his hand, knowing Millie and the kids awaited him, he wouldn't change places with anyone.
Syn:32) PHRASE: V inflects If you have been trying to understand something puzzling and then everything falls into place or clicks into place, you suddenly understand how different pieces of information are connected and everything becomes clearer.When the reasons behind the decision were explained, of course, it all fell into place...
But it wasn't until I saw the photograph in the paper that everything clicked into place.
33) PHRASE: V inflects If things fall into place, events happen naturally to produce a situation you want.Once the decision was made, things fell into place rapidly...
Keep your options open and everything will fall into place.
34) PHRASE: V inflects, oft cont If you say that someone is going places, you mean that they are showing a lot of talent or ability and are likely to become very successful.You always knew Barbara was going places, she was different.
35) PHRASE: usu n PHR People in high places are people who have powerful and influential positions in a government, society, or organization.He had friends in high places...
The discontent has been fuelled by allegations of corruption in high places.
36) PHRASE: PHR after v, v-link PHR If something is in place, it is in its correct or usual position. If it is out of place, it is not in its correct or usual position.Geoff hastily pushed the drawer back into place...
Not a strand of her golden hair was out of place.
37) PHRASE: v-link PHR, PHR after v If something such as a law, a policy, or an administrative structure is in place, it is working or able to be used.Similar legislation is already in place in Wales...
They're offended by the elaborate security measures the police have put in place.
38) PHRASE If one thing or person is used or does something in place of another, they replace the other thing or person.Cooked kidney beans can be used in place of French beans...
Laurence Waters visited us in place of John Trethewy who was unfortunately ill...
They're nice pictures and we've nothing to put in their place.
39) PHRASE: PHR with cl/group If something has particular characteristics or features in places, it has them at several points within an area.Even now the snow along the roadside was five or six feet deep in places...
His face was scarred and oddly puffy in places.
40) PHRASE If you say what you would have done in someone else's place, you say what you would have done if you had been in their situation and had been experiencing what they were experiencing.In her place I wouldn't have been able to resist it...
What would you have done in my place, my dear?
41) PHRASE: PHR after v You say in the first place when you are talking about the beginning of a situation or about the situation as it was before a series of events.What brought you to Washington in the first place?...
The emphasis is swinging away from simply finding cures for illness to ways of preventing illness in the first place...
I don't think we should have been there in the first place.
42) PHRASE: PHR with cl You say in the first place and in the second place to introduce the first and second in a series of points or reasons. In the first place can also be used to emphasize a very important point or reason.In the first place you are not old, Norman. And in the second place, you are a very strong and appealing man...
She could not have taken these massive doses orally. In the first place, she did not have enough pills.
Syn:43) PHRASE: V inflects, usu PHR to-inf If you say that it is not your place to do something, you mean that it is not right or appropriate for you to do it, or that it is not your responsibility to do it.He says that it is not his place to comment on government commitment to further funds...
It's not my place to do their job.
44) PHRASE: v-link PHR If someone or something seems out of place in a particular situation, they do not seem to belong there or to be suitable for that situation.I felt out of place in my suit and tie...
Her use of the word hate sounded strange and out of place.
...a noble building that would not have been out of place along the Grand Canal in Venice.
45) PHRASE: usu poss PHR If you say that someone has found their place in the sun, you mean that they are in a job or a situation where they will be happy and have everything that they want.46) PHRASE If you place one thing above, before, or over another, you think that the first thing is more important than the second and you show this in your behaviour.Many provincial governments have taken advantage of this to place local interests above those of the central government...
He continued to place security above all other objectives.
Syn:47) PHRASE: V inflects If you put someone in their place, you show them that they are less important or clever than they think they are.In a few words she had not only put him in his place but delivered a precise and damning assessment of his movie.
Syn:48) PHRASE If you say that someone should be shown their place or be kept in their place, you are saying, often in a humorous way, that they should be made aware of their low status....an uppity publican who needs to be shown his place.
...discrimination intended to keep women soldiers in their place.
49) PHRASE: V inflects, oft PHR to n If one thing takes second place to another, it is considered to be less important and is given less attention than the other thing.My personal life has had to take second place to my career.
50) PHRASE: V inflects If one thing or person takes the place of another or takes another's place, they replace the other thing or person.Optimism was gradually taking the place of pessimism...
He eventually took Charlie's place in a popular Latin band.
Syn:
English dictionary. 2008.
