rə̇ˈplās, rēˈp- transitive verb
Etymology: re- + place
1. : to place again : restore to a former place, position, or condition
replaced the card in the file
replaced the king on the throne
2. : to take the place of : serve as a substitute for or successor of : succeed , supplant
the saw and sawmill rapidly replaced the ax — American Guide Series: Michigan
the dried wood … has long been replaced by steel and concrete — T.H.Matthews
3. : to put in place of : provide a substitute or successor for
necessary to replace all the machinery in the plant
4. : to fill the place of : supply an equivalent for
a broken toy should not be immediately replaced — Bertrand Russell
promised to replace the money he had stolen
Synonyms:
displace , supplant , supersede : replace implies supplying a substitute or equivalent for someone or something, often something lost, worn out, broken, dismissed, destroyed, or otherwise no longer usable
Doe replacing Roe in the line-up
nor would I admit that the human actor can be replaced by a marionette — T.S.Eliot
an old bridge replaced by a new one
displace implies an ousting, dislodging, putting out, discharging, or crowding out, preceding a replacing
prehistoric Siouan tribes have been displaced almost entirely by Indians of Algonquian stock — American Guide Series: Minnesota
when large-scale commercial farms displaced the old peasant holdings — Oscar Handlin
since machinery has displaced manual labor — Karl Meyer
in this realm of science symbols first displace words — T.H.Savory
supplant is now likely to indicate an uprooting and eradication followed by a replacing or displacing by something newer, better, more modern or effective
horse cars supplanted by trolleys
rock fireplaces supplanted those of sapling and mud construction — American Guide Series: Tennessee
a valuable means of supplanting editorial guesswork with facts — F.L.Mott
a secure national government supplanting the provisional one
supersede is rarely without suggestions of replacement by something better or newer
the old-fashioned fishing luggers with their varicolored sails have been superseded by motorboats — American Guide Series: Louisiana
frame houses soon superseded the original log ones — American Guide Series: North Carolina
that is the worst of erudition — that the next scholar sucks the few drops of honey that you have accumulated, sets right your blunders, and you are superseded — A.C.Benson