displace

[ dis-pleys ]

verb (used with object)

, dis·placed, dis·plac·ing.

1. to compel (a person or persons) to leave home, country, etc.
2. to move or put out of the usual or proper place.

   Synonyms: relocate

3. to take the place of; replace; supplant:

   Fiction displaces fact.

4. to remove from a position, office, or dignity.

   Synonyms: dismiss, oust, depose

5. Obsolete. to rid oneself of.

displace

/ dɪsˈpleɪs /

verb

1. to move from the usual or correct location
2. to remove from office or employment
3. to occupy the place of; replace; supplant
4. to force (someone) to leave home or country, as during a war
5. chem to replace (an atom or group in a chemical compound) by another atom or group
6. physics to cause a displacement of (a quantity of liquid, usually water of a specified type and density)

Derived Forms

• disˈplacer, noun
• disˈplaceable, adjective

Other Words From

• dis·placea·ble adjective
• predis·place verb (used with object) predisplaced predisplacing
• undis·placea·ble adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of displace¹

1545–55; dis- ¹ + place, perhaps modeled on Middle French desplacer

Synonym Study

Displace, misplace mean to put something in a different place from where it should be. To displace often means to shift something solid and comparatively immovable, more or less permanently from its place: The flood displaced houses from their foundations. To misplace is to put an object in a wrong place so that it is difficult to find: Papers belonging in the safe were misplaced and temporarily lost.

Example Sentences

The Israeli government says that its military goals in southern Lebanon are to push back Hezbollah and return 60,000 Israelis displaced from its northern border towns to their homes.

From BBC

Israeli bombardment has ravaged large swaths of the country, killed almost 3,300 people and displaced a quarter of the population.

From Los Angeles Times

Multiple government agencies displaced and evicted Section 14 residents over at least five major abatement campaigns between 1936 and 1965, with the city’s direct involvement beginning in 1948, according to the historical study.

From Los Angeles Times

The report was published as Israeli forces continued a ground offensive in northern Gaza that has displaced up to 130,000 people over the past five weeks.

From BBC

A digital turf war erupted over Hydra’s displaced clientele.

From Salon

Related Words

• disturb
• evict
• expel
• force out
• lose
• uproot