# displace

Pronunciation: say "dis-PLAYS" /dɪsˈpleɪs/

## Verb

1. To move something or someone from its place, especially to force people to leave their homeland.
   - Simple: To move something or someone away from where they were, especially to force people from their homes.
   - _Decades of conflict have displaced more than two million people across the region._
   - _Rising sea levels could displace entire coastal communities within a generation._
2. To take the place of something or someone; to push aside and substitute for what was there before.
   - Simple: To take the place of another person or thing.
   - _Cheaper imports can displace local products from the shelves._
   - _Email has largely displaced the handwritten letter in everyday business._
3. To move something out of its proper position; to disarrange.
   - Simple: To move something out of its proper place.
   - _A careless nudge can displace the delicate instruments on the tray._
   - _The surgeon worried that the impact had displaced the broken bone._
4. To take the place of something else by being better suited or more capable than what was there before.
   - Simple: To take the place of something because you are better or more useful than it.
   - _More efficient designs gradually displace those that waste energy._
   - _The faster algorithm displaced its predecessor across the industry._
5. To have a weight equal to that of the water pushed aside by a floating vessel.
   - Simple: To have the same weight as the water that a floating object pushes out of the way.
   - _The aircraft carrier displaces nearly one hundred thousand tons when fully loaded._
   - _Modern submarines displace far more water when submerged than on the surface._
6. To hold back or push an uncomfortable emotion or impulse out of conscious thought; to repress it.
   - Simple: To push down a feeling or memory so you do not have to deal with it.
   - _Therapists note that children often displace fears they cannot put into words._
   - _She had displaced the trauma so completely that she recalled almost nothing._

## Origin

From Middle French desplacer, which in modern French is déplacer.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/displace (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).