1. take the place of: "Ian's smile was replaced by a frown"
▪ provide or find a substitute for (something that is broken, old, or inoperative): "the light bulb needs replacing"Similarsubstituteexchangechangegive in place ofgive as a replacement forgive in return/exchange forswap for
▪ fill the role of (someone or something) with a substitute: "the government dismissed 3,000 of its customs inspectors, replacing them with new recruits"Similartake the place ofsucceedbe a replacement fortake over fromsupersedefollow aftercome aftersupplantouststand in forsubstitute foract as stand-in fordeputize foract forstand in lieu offill in forcover forrelieveact as locum forunderstudystep into the breachhold the fortinformal:fill someone's shoes/bootsstep into someone's shoes/bootssub for
2. put (something) back in a previous place or position:"he drained his glass and replaced it on the bar"Similarput backreturnreturn to its placerestoreOppositeremove
