Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - place

(places, placing, placed) Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English. 1. 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. N-COUNT: usu with supp 2. 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... N-SING: the N 3. 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... N-COUNT: usu with supp 4. 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... Elections will now take place on November the twenty-fifth. PHRASE: V inflects 5. 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... N-SING: det N 6. If you go places, you visit pleasant or interesting places. (mainly AM) I don’t have money to go places... ADV: ADV after v 7. 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. N-COUNT: poss N 8. 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... N-COUNT: usu with supp 9. Someone’s or something’s place in a society, system, or situation is their position in relation to other people or things. ...the important place of Christianity in our national culture. N-COUNT: with poss 10. 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... N-COUNT: usu sing, usu ord N 11. 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. I eventually got a place at York University... They should be in residential care but there are no places available... N-COUNT: usu with supp 12. 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. = time N-SING: with supp, oft N to-inf, N for n/-ing 13. 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. N-COUNT: usu sing, usu poss N 14. Your place in a book or speech is the point you have reached in reading the book or making the speech. He lost his place in his notes. N-COUNT: usu sing, usu poss N 15. 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. N-COUNT: usu num N 16. If you place something somewhere, you put it in a particular position, especially in a careful, firm, or deliberate way. Brand folded it in his handkerchief and placed it in the inside pocket of his jacket... Chairs were hastily placed in rows for the parents. VERB: V n prep/adv, V n prep/adv 17. To place a person or thing in a particular state means to cause them to be in it. Widespread protests have placed the President under serious pressure... The remaining 30 percent of each army will be placed under UN control. = put VERB: V n prep, be V-ed prep 18. 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. He placed great emphasis on the importance of family life and ties... His government is placing its faith in international diplomacy. = put VERB: V n on/upon n, V n in n 19. If you place someone or something in a particular class or group, you label or judge them in that way. The authorities have placed the drug in Class A, the same category as heroin and cocaine... = put VERB: V n prep 20. 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’. I had been placed 2nd and 3rd a few times but had never won... Second-placed Auxerre suffered a surprising 2-0 home defeat to Nantes. VERB: usu passive, be V-ed ord, ord V-ed 21. If you place an order for a product or for a meal, you ask for it to be sent or brought to you. It is a good idea to place your order well in advance... Before placing your order for a meal, study the menu. VERB: V n, V n for n 22. If you place an advertisement in a newspaper, you arrange for the advertisement to appear in the newspaper. They placed an advertisement in the local paper for a secretary. = put VERB: V n in n, also V n 23. 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. I’d like to place an overseas call. VERB: V n 24. If you place a bet, you bet money on something. For this race, though, he had already placed a bet on one of the horses. VERB: V n on n, also V n 25. If an agency or organization places someone, it finds them a job or somewhere to live. In 1861, they managed to place fourteen women in paid positions in the colonies... In cases where it proves difficult to place a child, the reception centre provides long-term care. VERB: V n in n, V n 26. 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. It was a voice he recognized, though he could not immediately place it. VERB: V n 27. see also meeting place 28. If something is happening all over the place, it is happening in many different places. Businesses are closing down all over the place... PHRASE: PHR after v, v-link PHR 29. 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... PHRASE: v-link PHR, PHR after v 30. 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. PHRASE: v-link PHR 31. 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... = swap PHRASE: V inflects, pl-n PHR, PHR with n 32. 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... PHRASE: V inflects 33. If things fall into place, events happen naturally to produce a situation you want. Once the decision was made, things fell into place rapidly... PHRASE: V inflects 34. 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. PHRASE: V inflects, oft cont 35. People in high places are people who have powerful and influential positions in a government, society, or organization. He had friends in high places... PHRASE: usu n PHR 36. 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. PHRASE: PHR after v, v-link PHR 37. 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... PHRASE: v-link PHR, PHR after v 38. 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... PHRASE 39. If something has particular characteristics or features in places, it has them at several points within an area. The snow along the roadside was six feet deep in places... PHRASE: PHR with cl/group 40. 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? PHRASE 41. 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?... PHRASE: PHR after v 42. 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 and in the second place you are a very attractive man... PHRASE: PHR with cl 43. 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... PHRASE: V inflects, usu PHR to-inf 44. 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... PHRASE: v-link PHR 45. 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. PHRASE: usu poss PHR 46. 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. He continued to place security above all other objectives. = put PHRASE 47. 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 put him in his place. PHRASE: V inflects 48. 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. PHRASE 49. 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. PHRASE: V inflects, oft PHR to n 50. 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. PHRASE: V inflects 51. pride of place: see pride PLACE Place is used as part of the name of a square or short street in a town. ...15 Portland Place, London W1A 4DD. N-IN-NAMES