Search results for 'place':

place noun 1 a portion of the Earth's surface, particularly one considered as a unit, such as an area, region, district, locality, etc. 2 a geographic area or position, such as a country, city, town, village, etc. 3 a building, room, piece of ground, etc, particularly one assigned to some purpose • place of business • place of worship. 4 colloq one's home or lodging • Let's go to my place. 5 in compounds somewhere with a specified association or function • one's birthplace • a hiding-place. 6 a seat or space, eg at table • lay three places. 7 a seat in a theatre, on a train, bus, etc. 8 an area on the surface of something, eg on the body • point to the sore place. 9 the customary position of something or someone • put it back in its place. 10 a point reached, eg in a conversation, narrative, series of developments, etc • a good place to stop. 11 a point in a book, etc, especially where one stopped reading • made me lose my place. 12 a position within an order eg of competitors in a contest, a set of priorities, etc • finished in third place • lost his place in the queue • lets her family take second place. 13 social or political rank • know one's place • corruption in high places. 14 a vacancy at an institution, on a committee, in a firm, etc • gain a university place. 15 one's role, function, duty, etc • It's not my place to tell him. 16 a useful role • There's a place for judicious lying. 17 a an open square or a row of houses • the market place; b (Place) used in street names • Buccleuch Place. 18 math the position of a number in a series, especially of decimals after the point. verb (placed, placing) 1 to put, position, etc in a particular place. 2 to submit • place an order • place an advertisement. 3 to find a place, home, job, publisher, etc for someone • The agency were able to place her immediately with a company. 4 to assign final positions to (contestants, etc) • was placed fourth. 5 to identify or categorize • a familiar voice that I couldn't quite place. 6 commerce to find a buyer for (stocks or shares, usually a large quantity of them). 7 to arrange (a bet, loan, etc). 8 intrans, especially N Amer to finish a race or competition (in a specified position or, if unspecified, in second position) • The favourite placed third. all over the place in disorder or confusion. be placed 1 horse-racing, athletics to finish as one of the first three or, in some races, the first four. 2 to be in a position to do something • was well placed to influence the decision. fall into place to become clear; to make sense. give place to someone or something to make way for or yield to them. go places colloq 1 to travel. 2 to be successful. in place in the correct position. in place of something or someone instead of it or them. in the first place in any event; anyway • I never liked it in the first place. in the first, second, etc place used to introduce successive points. in places here and there. in your, etc place if I were you, etc. know one's place to show proper subservience (to someone, an organization, etc). lose one's place to falter in following a text, etc; not to know what point has been reached. lose the place colloq to become angry. out of place 1 not in the correct position. 2 inappropriate. put or keep someone in their place to humble them as they deserve because of their arrogance, conceit, etc. take one's place to assume one's usual or rightful position. take place to happen, occur, be held, etc • the ceremony takes place next week in London. take the place of someone or something to replace or supersede them.
ETYMOLOGY: 13c: from Anglo-Saxon plæce and French place an open place or street.