Library / English Dictionary

DISPLACE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Cause to move or shift into a new position or place, both in a concrete and in an abstract sense

Example:

The director moved more responsibilities onto his new assistant

Synonyms:

displace; move

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Cause:

move (move so as to change position, perform a nontranslational motion)

Verb group:

go; locomote; move; travel (change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically)

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

mobilise; mobilize (cause to move around)

relocate (move or establish in a new location)

dislocate; luxate; slip; splay (move out of position)

translate (change the position of (figures or bodies) in space without rotation)

place; post; send; station (assign to a station)

agitate; commove; disturb; raise up; shake up; stir up; vex (change the arrangement or position of)

channel; channelise; channelize; transfer; transmit; transport (send from one person or place to another)

funnel (move or pour through a funnel)

brandish; flourish; wave (move or swing back and forth)

draw; pull (cause to move by pulling)

carry; transport (move while supporting, either in a vehicle or in one's hands or on one's body)

tug (move by pulling hard)

disarrange (destroy the arrangement or order of)

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

engage; lock; mesh; operate (keep engaged)

impel; propel (cause to move forward with force)

launch; set in motion (get going; give impetus to)

roll; twine; wind; wrap (arrange or or coil around)

unroll; unwind; wind off (reverse the winding or twisting of)

force; squeeze; wedge (squeeze like a wedge into a tight space)

work (move into or onto)

disgorge; shed; spill (cause or allow (a solid substance) to flow or run out or over)

slop; spill; splatter (cause or allow (a liquid substance) to run or flow from a container)

unseat (dislodge from one's seat, as from a horse)

disunite; divide; part; separate (force, take, or pull apart)

deracinate; extirpate; root out; uproot (pull up by or as if by the roots)

depress; press down (press down)

lift (take hold of something and move it to a different location)

flick; riffle; ruffle (twitch or flutter)

work (move in an agitated manner)

take back (move text to the previous line; in printing)

center; centre (move into the center)

pump (move up and down)

scan (move a light beam over; in electronics, to reproduce an image)

bump around; jar; shake up (shock physically)

dandle (move (a baby) up and down in one's arms or on one's knees)

revolve; roll (cause to move by turning over or in a circular manner of as if on an axis)

force; push (move with force)

rock; sway (cause to move back and forth)

fluctuate (cause to fluctuate or move in a wavelike pattern)

pulse (drive by or as if by pulsation)

dislodge; reposition; shift (change place or direction)

glide (cause to move or pass silently, smoothly, or imperceptibly)

stir (move an implement through)

play (cause to move or operate freely within a bounded space)

bowl over; knock over; overturn; tip over; tump over; turn over; upset (cause to overturn from an upright or normal position)

send; ship; transport (transport commercially)

direct; send (cause to go somewhere)

transport (move something or somebody around; usually over long distances)

saltate (move by saltation)

bring down; get down; let down; lower; take down (move something or somebody to a lower position)

lift; raise (move upwards)

bring up; elevate; get up; lift; raise (raise from a lower to a higher position)

drop (let fall to the ground)

sink (cause to sink)

advance; bring forward (cause to move forward)

chase away; dispel; drive away; drive off; drive out; run off; turn back (force to go away; used both with concrete and metaphoric meanings)

shift; transfer (move around)

displace (cause to move, usually with force or pressure)

crowd; herd (cause to herd, drive, or crowd together)

circulate (cause to move in a circuit or system)

circulate; distribute; pass around; pass on (cause to be distributed)

drive out; force out; rouse; rout out (force or drive out)

drive (cause someone or something to move by driving)

race; rush (cause to move fast or to rush or race)

whoosh; woosh (move with a sibilant sound)

pour (cause to run)

slip (cause to move with a smooth or sliding motion)

bring outside; exteriorize (bring outside the body for surgery, of organs)

upstage (move upstage, forcing the other actors to turn away from the audience)

swing (move in a curve or arc, usually with the intent of hitting)

turn; turn over (cause to move around a center so as to show another side of)

turn (cause to move around or rotate)

turn (cause to move along an axis or into a new direction)

slide (move smoothly along a surface)

run (cause an animal to move fast)

whistle (move, send, or bring as if by whistling)

beat; flap (move with a thrashing motion)

singsong (move as if accompanied by a singsong)

hustle (cause to move furtively and hurriedly)

wash (move by or as if by water)

rake (move through with or as if with a rake)

blow (cause to move by means of an air current)

drag (use a computer mouse to move icons on the screen and select commands from a menu)

draw; pull (cause to move in a certain direction by exerting a force upon, either physically or in an abstract sense)

lateralize (move or displace to one side so as to make lateral)

translate (subject to movement in which every part of the body moves parallel to and the same distance as every other point on the body)

hit; strike (drive something violently into a location)

sling (move with a sling)

change hands; change owners (be transferred to another owner)

transfer (move from one place to another)

expel; kick out; throw out (force to leave or move out)

Sentence frames:

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

Sense 2

Meaning:

Cause to move, usually with force or pressure

Example:

the refugees were displaced by the war

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

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

displace; move (cause to move or shift into a new position or place, both in a concrete and in an abstract sense)

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

dislocate (put out of its usual place, position, or relationship)

bump; dislodge (remove or force from a position of dwelling previously occupied)

transfer; transplant (lift and reset in another soil or situation)

crowd out; force out (press, force, or thrust out of a small space)

evacuate (move people from their homes or country)

deracinate; uproot (move (people) forcibly from their homeland into a new and foreign environment)

Sentence frames:

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

Sense 3

Meaning:

Terminate the employment of; discharge from an office or position

Example:

The company terminated 25% of its workers

Synonyms:

can; dismiss; displace; fire; force out; give notice; give the axe; give the sack; sack; send away; terminate

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

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

remove (remove from a position or an office)

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

retire (make (someone) retire)

pension off (let go from employment with an attractive pension)

clean out (force out)

furlough; lay off (dismiss, usually for economic reasons)

squeeze out (force out)

dismiss; drop; send away; send packing (stop associating with)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s somebody to INFINITIVE

Sense 4

Meaning:

Take the place of or have precedence over

Example:

discussion of the emergency situation will preempt the lecture by the professor

Synonyms:

displace; preempt

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

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

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

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Credits

 Context examples: 

Issue associated with mechanical force that displaces device and/or device components from an intended location.

(Medical Device or Device Component Dislodged or Dislocated, Food and Drug Administration)

Fracture of the lower end of the radius in which the lower fragment is displaced posteriorly.

(Colles' Fracture, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

Large boulders displaced from their natural geologic location by glaciers.

(Erratics, NOAA Paleoclimate Glossary)

Scientists also found that high-elevation areas on Ceres displace mass in the interior.

(What's Inside Ceres? New Findings from Gravity Data, NASA)

New lists continually displaced the old ones.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Someone may have shaken the box and displaced it.

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

François was obdurate, but when he turned his back Buck again displaced Sol-leks, who was not at all unwilling to go.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

Base pairs are tilted to helix axis and displaced from axis and sugar pucker is C3'-endo (in RNA 2'-OH inhibits C2'-endo conformation).

(A-DNA, NCI Thesaurus)

Worse still, many of those 3 billion people are in the most vulnerable situations: those with disabilities, the elderly, women and girls, displaced people, indigenous populations and those living in the hardest-to-reach rural areas.

(Slightly dirty water ‘still ok’ against coronavirus, SciDev.Net)

Again I looked at the face; which was no longer turned from me—on the contrary, the bonnet was doffed, the bandage displaced, the head advanced.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)