Place vs. Position — What's the Difference?

A particular position, point, or area in space; a location

A place or location.

A portion of space designated or available for or being used by someone

The right or appropriate place

A position in a sequence or series, typically one ordered on the basis of merit

A strategic area occupied by members of a force

A square or short street

The way in which something is placed

Put in a particular position

The arrangement of body parts; posture

Find a home or employment for

In ballet, any of the five arrangements of the arms and feet in which the legs are turned out from the pelvis.

Identify or classify as being of a specified type or as holding a specified position in a sequence or hierarchy

An advantageous place or location

Score (a goal) by a place kick.

A situation as it relates to the surrounding circumstances

An area with definite or indefinite boundaries; a portion of space.

A point of view or attitude on a certain question

Room or space, especially adequate space

Social standing or status; rank.

The particular portion of space occupied by or allocated to a person or thing.

A post of employment; a job.

A building or an area set aside for a specified purpose

(Sports) The area for which a particular player is responsible.

A dwelling; a house

The arrangement of the pieces or cards at any particular time in a game such as chess, checkers, or bridge.

A business establishment or office.

The act or process of positing.

A locality, such as a town or city

A principle or proposition posited.

Abbr. Pl. A public square or street with houses in a town.

A commitment to buy or sell a given amount of securities or commodities.

A space in which one person, such as a passenger or spectator, can sit or stand.

The amount of securities or commodities held by a person, firm, or institution.

A setting for one person at a table.

The ownership status of a person's or institution's investments.

A position regarded as belonging to someone or something else; stead

To put in place or position.

A particular point that one has reached, as in a book

To determine the position of; locate.

A particular spot, as on the body

A place or location.

The proper or designated role or function

A post of employment; a job.

The proper or customary position or order

A status or rank.

A suitable setting or occasion

An opinion, stand, or stance.

The appropriate right or duty

A posture.

Social station

(figurative) A situation suitable to perform some action.

A particular situation or circumstance

(team sports) A place on the playing field, together with a set of duties, assigned to a player.

High rank or status.

(finance) An amount of securities, commodities, or other financial instruments held by a person, firm, or institution.

A job, post, or position

(finance) A commitment, or a group of commitments, such as options or futures, to buy or sell a given amount of financial instruments, such as securities, currencies or commodities, for a given price.

Relative position in a series; standing.

(arithmetic) A method of solving a problem by one or two suppositions; also called the rule of trial and error.

(Games) Second position for betting purposes, as in a horserace.

(chess) The full state of a chess game at any given turn.

The specified stage in a list of points to be made, as in an argument

(poker) The order in which players are seated around the table.

(Mathematics) A position in a numeral or series.

To put into place.

To put in or as if in a particular place or position; set.

The state of being posited, or placed; the manner in which anything is placed; attitude; condition; as, a firm, an inclined, or an upright position.

To put in a specified relation or order

The spot where a person or thing is placed or takes a place; site; place; station; situation; as, the position of man in creation; the fleet changed its position.

To offer for consideration

Hence: The ground which any one takes in an argument or controversy; the point of view from which any one proceeds to a discussion; also, a principle laid down as the basis of reasoning; a proposition; a thesis; as, to define one's position; to appear in a false position.

To find accommodation or employment for.

Relative place or standing; social or official rank; as, a person of position; hence, office; post; as, to lose one's position.

To put into a particular condition

A method of solving a problem by one or two suppositions; - called also the rule of trial and error.

To arrange for the publication or display of

To indicate the position of; to place.

To appoint to a post

The particular portion of space occupied by a physical object;

To rank in an order or sequence

A point occupied by troops for tactical reasons

To estimate

A way of regarding situations or topics etc.;

To identify or classify in a particular context

Position or arrangement of the body and its limbs;

To give an order for

The relative position or standing of things or especially persons in a society;

To apply or arrange for

A job in an organization;

To make or obtain a connection for (a telephone call).

The spatial property of a place where or way in which something is situated;

To sell (a new issue of stock, bonds, or other securities).

The appropriate or customary location;

To adjust (one's voice) for the best possible effects.

(in team sports) the role assigned to an individual player;

To be among those who finish a competition or race, especially to finish second.

The act of putting something in a certain place or location

(physical) An area; somewhere within an area.

A condition or position in which you find yourself;

An open space, particularly a city square, market square, or courtyard.

An item on a list or in a sequence;

A street, sometimes but not always surrounding a public place, square, or plaza of the same name.

A rationalized mental attitude

An inhabited area: a village, town, or city.

An opinion that is held in opposition to another in an argument or dispute;

Any area of the earth: a region.

The function or position properly or customarily occupied or served by another;

The area one occupies, particularly somewhere to sit.

The act of positing; an assumption taken as a postulate or axiom

The area where one lives: one's home, formerly country estates and farms.

Cause to be in an appropriate place, state, or relation

An area of the body, especially the skin.

Put into a certain place or abstract location;

An area to urinate and defecate: an outhouse or lavatory.

An area to fight: a battlefield or the contested ground in a battle.

A location or position in space.

A particular location in a book or document, particularly the current location of a reader.

A passage or extract from a book or document.

A topic.

A state of mind.

A chess position; a square of the chessboard.

(social) A responsibility or position in an organization.

A role or purpose; a station.

The position of a contestant in a competition.

(horse-racing) The position of first, second, or third at the finish, especially the second position.

The position as a member of a sports team.

A fortified position: a fortress, citadel, or walled town.

Numerically, the column counting a certain quantity.

Ordinal relation; position in the order of proceeding.

Reception; effect; implying the making room for.

(transitive) To put (an object or person) in a specific location.

(intransitive) To earn a given spot in a competition.

To finish second, especially of horses or dogs.

To rank at (a certain position, often followed by an ordinal) as in a horse race.

(transitive) To remember where and when (an object or person) has been previously encountered.

(transitive) To sing (a note) with the correct pitch.

(transitive) To arrange for or to make (a bet).

(transitive) To establish a call connection by telephone or similar.

(transitive) To recruit or match an appropriate person for a job, or a home for an animal for adoption, etc.

To place-kick (a goal).

Any portion of space regarded as measured off or distinct from all other space, or appropriated to some definite object or use; position; ground; site; spot; rarely, unbounded space.

A broad way in a city; an open space; an area; a court or short part of a street open only at one end.

A position which is occupied and held; a dwelling; a mansion; a village, town, or city; a fortified town or post; a stronghold; a region or country.

Rank; degree; grade; order of priority, advancement, dignity, or importance; especially, social rank or position; condition; also, official station; occupation; calling.

Vacated or relinquished space; room; stead (the departure or removal of another being or thing being implied).

A definite position or passage of a document.

Ordinal relation; position in the order of proceeding; as, he said in the first place.

Reception; effect; - implying the making room for.

Position in the heavens, as of a heavenly body; - usually defined by its right ascension and declination, or by its latitude and longitude.

The position of first, second, or third at the finish, esp. the second position. In betting, to win a bet on a horse for place it must, in the United States, finish first or second, in England, usually, first, second, or third.

To assign a place to; to put in a particular spot or place, or in a certain relative position; to direct to a particular place; to fix; to settle; to locate; as, to place a book on a shelf; to place balls in tennis.

To put or set in a particular rank, office, or position; to surround with particular circumstances or relations in life; to appoint to certain station or condition of life; as, in whatever sphere one is placed.

To put out at interest; to invest; to loan; as, to place money in a bank.

To set; to fix; to repose; as, to place confidence in a friend.

To attribute; to ascribe; to set down.

To determine or announce the place of at the finish. Usually, in horse racing only the first three horses are placed officially.

To place-kick ( a goal).

To recognize or identify (a person).

A point located with respect to surface features of some region;

Any area set aside for a particular purpose;

An abstract mental location;

A general vicinity;

The function or position properly or customarily occupied or served by another;

A particular situation;

Where you live at a particular time;

A job in an organization;

The particular portion of space occupied by a physical object;

Proper or designated social situation;

A space reserved for sitting (as in a theater or on a train or airplane);

The passage that is being read;

Proper or appropriate position or location;

A public square with room for pedestrians;

An item on a list or in a sequence;

A blank area;

Put into a certain place or abstract location;

Place somebody in a particular situation or location;

Assign a rank or rating to;

Assign a location to;

To arrange for;

Take a place in a competition; often followed by an ordinal;

Intend (something) to move towards a certain goal;

Recognize as being; establish the identity of someone or something;

Assign to (a job or a home)

Locate;

Estimate;

Identify the location or place of;

Make an investment;

Assign to a station

Finish second or better in a horse or dog race;

Sing a note with the correct pitch