position
Americannoun
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positions
plural
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condition with reference to place; location; situation.
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a place occupied or to be occupied; site.
a fortified position.
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the proper, appropriate, or usual place.
out of position.
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situation or condition, especially with relation to favorable or unfavorable circumstances.
to be in an awkward position; to bargain from a position of strength.
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status or standing.
He has a position to maintain in the community.
- Synonyms:
- rank
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high standing, as in society; important status.
a person of wealth and position.
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a post of employment.
a position in a bank.
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manner of being placed, disposed, or arranged.
the relative position of the hands of a clock.
- Synonyms:
- arrangement, array, disposition, placement
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bodily posture or attitude.
to be in a sitting position.
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mental attitude; stand.
one's position on a controversial topic.
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the act of positing.
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something that is posited.
- Synonyms:
- principle, doctrine, contention, predication, assertion, dictum, thesis, postulate, hypothesis, proposition
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Ballet. any of the five basic positions of the feet with which every step or movement begins and ends.
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Music.
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the arrangement of tones in a chord, especially with regard to the location of the root tone in a triad or to the distance of the tones from each other.
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any of the places on the fingerboard of a stringed instrument where the fingers stop the strings to produce the variouspitches.
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any of the places to which the slide of a trombone is shifted to produce changes in pitch.
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Finance. a commitment to buy or sell securities.
He took a large position in defense stocks.
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Classical Prosody. the situation of a short vowel before two or more consonants or their equivalent, making the syllable metrically long.
verb (used with object)
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positions,
present (3rd person singular)
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positioned,
past participle, past
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positioning
present participle
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to put in a particular or appropriate position; place.
- Synonyms:
- situate
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to determine the position of; locate.
noun
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the place, situation, or location of a person or thing
he took up a position to the rear
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the appropriate or customary location
the telescope is in position for use
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the arrangement or disposition of the body or a part of the body
the corpse was found in a sitting position
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the manner in which a person or thing is placed; arrangement
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military an area or point occupied for tactical reasons
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mental attitude; point of view; stand
what's your position on this issue?
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social status or standing, esp high social standing
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a post of employment; job
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the act of positing a fact or viewpoint
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something posited, such as an idea, proposition, etc
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sport the part of a field or playing area where a player is placed or where he generally operates
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music
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the vertical spacing or layout of the written notes in a chord. Chords arranged with the three upper voices close together are in close position . Chords whose notes are evenly or widely distributed are in open position See also root position
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one of the points on the fingerboard of a stringed instrument, determining where a string is to be stopped
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the situation in which a short vowel may be regarded as long, that is, when it occurs before two or more consonants
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(of a consonant, either on its own or in combination with other consonants, such as x in Latin) to cause a short vowel to become metrically long when placed after it
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finance the market commitment of a dealer in securities, currencies, or commodities
a long position
a short position
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(foll by an infinitive) able (to)
I'm not in a position to reveal these figures
verb
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to put in the proper or appropriate place; locate
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sport to place (oneself or another player) in a particular part of the field or playing area
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to put (someone or something) in a position (esp in relation to others) that confers a strategic advantage: he's trying to position himself for a leadership bid
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marketing to promote (a product or service) by tailoring it to the needs of a specific market or by clearly differentiating it from its competitors (e.g. in terms of price or quality)
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rare to locate or ascertain the position of
Synonym Usage
Position, job, place, situation refer to a post of employment. Position is any employment, though usually above manual labor: a position as clerk. Job is colloquial for position, and applies to any work from lowest to highest in an organization: a job as cook, as manager. Place and situation are both mainly used today in reference to a position that is desired or being applied for; situation is the general word in the business world: Situations Wanted; place is used rather of domestic employment: He is looking for a place as a gardener. Position, posture, attitude, pose refer to an arrangement or disposal of the body or its parts. Position is the general word for the arrangement of the body: in a reclining position. Posture is usually an assumed arrangement of the body, especially when standing: a relaxed posture. Attitude is often a posture assumed for imitative effect or the like, but may be one adopted for a purpose (as that of a fencer or a tightrope walker): an attitude of prayer. A pose is an attitude assumed, in most cases, for artistic effect: an attractive pose.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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mispositionverb (used with object)
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positionaladjective
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positionlessadjective
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well-positionedadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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positionsimple
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positionssimple
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have positionedperfect
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has positionedperfect
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am positioningprogressive
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are positioningprogressive
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is positioningprogressive
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have been positioningperfect progressive
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has been positioningperfect progressive
Past
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positionedsimple
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had positionedperfect
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was positioningprogressive
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were positioningprogressive
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had been positioningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of position
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English posicioun “a positing” (from Anglo-French ), from Latin positiōn- (stem of positiō ) “a placing, etc.” See posit, -ion
Explanation
A position is the point where something is located, as on a map, or the posture it's arranged in, such as an "upright position." Position has many meanings. As a noun it can be a job or post in an organization (an "open position" is a job opening); the role assigned to the individual player of a team sport (guard, forward, and center are basketball positions); a view or perspective on a particular issue; or the place an item occupies on a list or sequence (in racing, "pole position" is first, on the inside). As a verb it can mean lay, place, pose, or set.
Vocabulary lists containing position
Argumentative Writing
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TEKS ELAR Academic Vocabulary List (5th-7th grades)
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Argumentative Writing, List 1
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“I’ve been in every position in fashion,” Blazy said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 24, 2026
Hamilton is already below that position having qualified fifth, while Russell will start sixth ahead of the McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.
From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2026
They used two approaches, maximum parsimony and Bayesian tip-dating, to compare anatomical characteristics and reconstruct the species' position on the evolutionary tree.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 24, 2026
The National Weather Service says actual tides in Southern California are running 1.25 to 1.75 feet above what would expected from just the position of the Earth, sun and moon, given the hotter ocean temperatures.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 24, 2026
“One is a substitute teaching position this fall. The other is for a summer tutoring program. I might even get to teach French.”
From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller
In May 2025, the group said it would cut 3,000 jobs and two years earlier, 1,300 positions in Sweden were eliminated.
From Barron's ● Oct. 23, 2026
Meera Shankar says that India is possibly "waiting for the US to formalise its tariff positions so that we know whether Delhi has a preferential trade deal".
From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2026
Minority positions, media rights, stadiums, lending, emerging leagues and college athletics offer less competition.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2026
Omar is not simply a politician whose positions can be challenged.
From Salon ● Oct. 22, 2026
Bobby and Jack played thousands of games—mostly speed—analyzed hundreds of positions, and solved dozens of chess problems together.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
They then moved a light source by hand, illuminating the fins to guide the robot through a maze positioned inside the dish.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 23, 2026
Given his law enforcement background, he argues he’s better positioned to influence police than Roy.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2026
“We are encouraged by the recovery in the quarter and see room for multiple expansion as IBM is well positioned as a substantial AI infrastructure beneficiary.”
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 22, 2026
On balance, he says Navigator remains well positioned to benefit from structural tailwinds in global alternative asset markets.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 20, 2026
Jessie carefully positioned the water bottle in the wire cage, aimed the spout into the base of the funnel, then unscrewed the bottle cap.
From "The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street" by Karina Yan Glaser
The city was also “reinforcing protective sand berms, preparing pumps and tide valves and positioning resources in flood-prone areas,” officials said on social media.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 24, 2026
Hedge fund positioning has lightened considerably since its recent September peak, and JPMorgan strategists deduce from this that downside for stocks is now limited.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026
Yet there’s reason to believe there’s more to the recent rally in healthcare than just defensive positioning.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 21, 2026
However, positioning the electrodes correctly remains one of the greatest challenges.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 18, 2026
He pulled the desk chair over, positioning it a little off to the right from where Emma had pointed.
From "The Strangers" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
