50 PHRASE If one thing or person takes the place of another or takes another's place , they replace the other thing or person. □ Optimism was gradually taking the place of pessimism. □ He eventually took Charlie's place in a popular Latin band.
51 pride of place → see pride
Place N‑COUNT Place is used as part of the name of a square or short street in a town. □ …15 Portland Place, London W1A 4DD.
pla|cebo /pləsiː boʊ/ (placebos ) N‑COUNT A placebo is a substance with no effects that a doctor gives to a patient instead of a drug. Placebos are used when testing new drugs or sometimes when a patient has imagined their illness.
pla|ce bo ef|fect (placebo effects ) N‑COUNT The placebo effect is the fact that some patients' health improves after taking what they believe is an effective drug but which is in fact only a placebo.
pla ce card (place cards ) N‑COUNT A place card is a small card with a person's name on it which is put on a table at a formal meal to indicate where that person is to sit.
-placed /-ple I st/
1 COMB -placed combines with adverbs to form adjectives which describe how well or badly someone is able to do a particular task. □ A member of the Royal Commission on Criminal Justice, Miss Rafferty is well-placed to comment. □ Fund managers are poorly-placed to monitor firms.
2 COMB -placed combines with adverbs to form adjectives which indicate how good or bad the position of a building or area is considered to be. □ The hotel is wonderfully-placed, only a minute's walk from the city centre.
place|man /ple I smən/ (placemen ) N‑COUNT [usu pl] If you refer to a public official as a placeman , you disapprove of the fact that they use their position for their own personal benefit or to provide political support for those who appointed them. [BRIT , DISAPPROVAL ] □ The President's placemen on the Supreme Court can block legislation including an amnesty for political prisoners.
pla ce mat (place mats ) also placemat N‑COUNT Place mats are mats that are put on a table before a meal for people to put their plates or bowls on.
place|ment /ple I smənt/ (placements )
1 N‑UNCOUNT The placement of something or someone is the act of putting them in a particular place or position. □ [+ of ] The treatment involves the placement of twenty-two electrodes in the inner ear.
2 N‑COUNT If someone who is training gets a placement , they get a job for a period of time which is intended to give them experience in the work they are training for. □ [+ with ] He had a six-month work placement with the Japanese government.
3 N‑UNCOUNT The placement of someone in a job, home, or school is the act or process of finding them a job, home, or school. □ [+ in ] The children were waiting for placement in a foster care home.
pla|cen|ta /pləse ntə/ (placentas ) N‑COUNT The placenta is the mass of veins and tissue inside the womb of a pregnant woman or animal, which the unborn baby is attached to. □ The infection can be passed on to the baby via the placenta.
pla ce set|ting (place settings )
1 N‑COUNT A place setting is an arrangement of knives, forks, spoons, and glasses that has been laid out on a table for the use of one person at a meal.
2 N‑COUNT A place setting of china or of knives, forks, and spoons is a complete set of all the things that one person might use at a meal. □ A seven-piece place setting costs about £45.
plac|id /plæ s I d/
1 ADJ A placid person or animal is calm and does not easily become excited, angry, or upset. □ She was a placid child who rarely cried. ● plac|id|ly ADV [ADV with v] □ 'No matter, we will pay the difference,' Helena said placidly.
2 ADJ [usu ADJ n] A placid place, area of water, or life is calm and peaceful. □ …the placid waters of Lake Erie.
plac|ings /ple I s I ŋz/ N‑PLURAL The placings in a competition are the relative positions of the competitors at the end or at a particular stage of the competition. □ Northampton were third in the League placings.
pla|gia|rism /ple I dʒər I zəm/ N‑UNCOUNT Plagiarism is the practice of using or copying someone else's idea or work and pretending that you thought of it or created it. □ Now he's in real trouble. He's accused of plagiarism. ● pla|gia|rist (plagiarists ) N‑COUNT □ Colleagues call Oates an unlikely plagiarist.
pla|gia|rize /ple I dʒəra I z/ (plagiarizes , plagiarizing , plagiarized ) in BRIT, also use plagiarise VERB If someone plagiarizes another person's idea or work, they use it or copy it and pretend that they thought of it or created it. □ [V n] Moderates are plagiarizing his ideas in hopes of wooing voters. □ [V -ed + from ] The poem employs as its first lines a verse plagiarized from a billboard. [Also V ]
plague /ple I g/ (plagues , plaguing , plagued )
1 N‑UNCOUNT [oft the N ] Plague or the plague is a very infectious disease which usually results in death. The patient has a severe fever and swellings on his or her body. □ …a fresh outbreak of plague.
2 N‑COUNT A plague of unpleasant things is a large number of them that arrive or happen at the same time. □ [+ of ] The city is under threat from a plague of rats.
3 VERB If you are plagued by unpleasant things, they continually cause you a lot of trouble or suffering. □ [be V -ed + by ] She was plagued by weakness, fatigue, and dizziness. □ [V n] Fears about job security plague nearly half the workforce.
plaice /ple I s/ (plaice ) N‑VAR Plaice are a type of flat sea fish. ● N‑UNCOUNT Plaice is this fish eaten as food. □ …a fillet of plaice with sautéed rice and vegetables.