REPLACE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does replace mean? 

• REPLACE (verb)
  The verb REPLACE has 4 senses:

1. substitute a person or thing for (another that is broken or inefficient or lost or no longer working or yielding what is expected)

2. take the place or move into the position of

3. put something back where it belongs

4. put in the place of another; switch seemingly equivalent items

  Familiarity information: REPLACE used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• REPLACE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they replace    ... he / she / it replaces   
Past simple: replaced   
Past participle: replaced   
-ing form: replacing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Substitute a person or thing for (another that is broken or inefficient or lost or no longer working or yielding what is expected)

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

This antique vase can never be replaced

Hypernyms (to "replace" is one way to...):

regenerate; renew (reestablish on a new, usually improved, basis or make new or like new)

Verb group:

replace; supersede; supervene upon; supplant (take the place or move into the position of)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "replace"):

change; commute; convert; exchange (exchange or replace with another, usually of the same kind or category)

change (remove or replace the coverings of)

novate (replace with something new, especially an old obligation by a new one)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s somebody PP
Somebody ----s something with something

Derivation:

replacement (the act of furnishing an equivalent person or thing in the place of another)

replacement (a person or thing that takes or can take the place of another)

replacement (an event in which one thing is substituted for another)

replacement (someone who takes the place of another person)

replacing (the act of furnishing an equivalent person or thing in the place of another)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Take the place or move into the position of

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

replace; supersede; supervene upon; supplant

Context example:

Mary replaced Susan as the team's captain and the highest-ranked player in the school

Hypernyms (to "replace" is one way to...):

come after; follow; succeed (be the successor (of))

Verb group:

replace (substitute a person or thing for (another that is broken or inefficient or lost or no longer working or yielding what is expected))

put back; replace (put something back where it belongs)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "replace"):

deputise; deputize; step in; substitute (act as a substitute)

displace; preempt (take the place of or have precedence over)

usurp (take the place of)

oust (remove and replace)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Derivation:

replacement (the act of furnishing an equivalent person or thing in the place of another)

replacement (a person or thing that takes or can take the place of another)

replacement (someone who takes the place of another person)

replacing (the act of furnishing an equivalent person or thing in the place of another)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Put something back where it belongs

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

put back; replace

Context example:

please put the clean dishes back in the cabinet when you have washed them

Hypernyms (to "replace" is one way to...):

lay; place; pose; position; put; set (put into a certain place or abstract location)

Verb group:

replace; supersede; supervene upon; supplant (take the place or move into the position of)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "replace"):

hang up (put a telephone receiver back in its cradle)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something PP

Sense 4

Meaning:

Put in the place of another; switch seemingly equivalent items

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Synonyms:

exchange; interchange; replace; substitute

Context example:

synonyms can be interchanged without a changing the context's meaning

Hypernyms (to "replace" is one way to...):

alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "replace"):

shift (move and exchange for another)

reduce (simplify the form of a mathematical equation of expression by substituting one term for another)

truncate (replace a corner by a plane)

retool (provide (a workshop or factory) with new tools)

subrogate (substitute one creditor for another, as in the case where an insurance company sues the person who caused an accident for the insured)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something PP
Somebody ----s something with something

Derivation:

replacement (the act of furnishing an equivalent person or thing in the place of another)

 Context examples 

In people with healthy bones, new bone is always replacing old bone.

(Osteonecrosis, NIH: National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases)

Normally, new cells form as you need them, replacing old cells that die.

(Cancer in Children, NIH: National Cancer Institute)

“Thank you,” said he, as he replaced the glass.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Issue associated with replacing an older operation system to an up-to-date operation system.

(Operating System Version or Upgrade Problem Associated with Medical Device, Food and Drug Administration)

Normally, your body forms new cells as you need them, replacing old cells that die.

(Cancer, NIH: National Cancer Institute)

It is characterized by a neural spindle cell proliferation that replaces the appendiceal mucosa and lymphoid tissue.

(Appendix Neuroma, NCI Thesaurus)

In vain we tried to replace it.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

A method of replacing blood-forming cells destroyed by cancer treatment.

(Peripheral blood stem cell transplant, NCI Dictionary)

Similar to bone marrow transplantation, peripheral stem cell transplantation is a method of replacing the blood-forming cells lost due to high-dose chemotherapy, and possibly radiation therapy, used to destroy leukemia cells.

(Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Transplantation, NCI Thesaurus)

When I had written in my diary and had fortunately replaced the book and pen in my pocket I felt sleepy.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)