relegate

verb

rel·e·gate | \ ˈre-lə-ˌgāt

relegated; relegating

Definition of relegate

transitive verb

1 : to send into exile : banish

2 : assign: such as

a : to assign to a place of insignificance or of oblivion : put out of sight or mind

b : to assign to an appropriate place or situation on the basis of classification or appraisal

c : to submit to someone or something for appropriate action : delegate

d : to transfer (a sports team) to a lower ranking division

Other Words from relegate Synonyms Choose the Right Synonym Did You Know? Example Sentences Learn More about relegate

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Choose the Right Synonym for relegate

commit, entrust, confide, consign, relegate mean to assign to a person or place for a definite purpose. commit may express the general idea of delivering into another's charge or the special sense of transferring to a superior power or to a special place of custody. committed the felon to prison entrust implies committing with trust and confidence. the president is entrusted with broad powers confide implies entrusting with great assurance or reliance. confided complete control of my affairs to my attorney consign suggests removing from one's control with formality or finality. consigned the damaging notes to the fire relegate implies a consigning to a particular class or sphere often with a suggestion of getting rid of. relegated to an obscure position in the company

Did You Know?

Originally relegate meant "to send into exile, banish". So when you relegate an old sofa to the basement, you're sending it to home-decorating Siberia. When confronted with a matter that no one really wants to face, a chief executive may relegate it to a committee "for further study", which may manage to ignore it for years. It may be annoying to read a newspaper article about a pet project and find that your own contributions have been relegated to a short sentence near the end.

Examples of relegate in a Sentence

The bill has been relegated to committee for discussion. courtiers and generals who incurred the emperor's disfavor were soon relegated to the farther reaches of the empire

Recent Examples on the Web

Time was when witches were burned at the stake—or, at the very least, relegated to the margins of society. — Harper's BAZAAR, "The Modern Woman Is Embracing Her Inner Witch," 12 Nov. 2018 First off, there is no label — because these are meant to be displayed on your coffee table or mantel, not relegated to whatever musky corner needs freshening up. — Candace Braun Davison, House Beautiful, "You're Going To Be Obsessed With Amber Interiors' New Candles," 11 Sep. 2018 His chief contribution is to put on center stage a cast of skeptics and freethinkers whom historians often relegate to the wings. — D.g. Hart, WSJ, "‘Skepticism and American Faith’ Review: Believe It or Not," 22 Aug. 2018 These plots were approved by Ali Khamenei, the regime’s supreme leader, and were relegated to the MOIS to be carried out. — Adam Shaw, Fox News, "Iran plots terror on European soil as EU tries to shield regime from Trump sanctions push," 9 Aug. 2018 Jackson plotted the career moves of the Jackson 5 starting in the 1960s, but was slowly relegated to the sidelines when his son Michael rocketed to global stardom as a solo artist during the next decade. — Jill Leovy, latimes.com, "Joe Jackson, patriarch of musical family of pop stars, dies at 89," 27 June 2018 West Ham have already made the impressive defensive signings of Issa Diop and Ryan Fredericks from Toulouse and Fulham respectively, while Łukasz Fabiański has also joined the club this summer after being relegated last season with Swansea. — SI.com, "West Ham & Everton to Rival Brighton in Pursuit of Former Leicester City Loanee," 27 June 2018 Old Days To be an engineer at Goldman has often meant being relegated to the back office, or toiling away on internal financial models and products for institutional clients. — Dakin Campbell, Bloomberg.com, "New Goldman Office Dumps Dress Code for Kombucha on Tap," 6 Apr. 2018 Four big tents have been set up for women and children to sleep under with thin mattresses and blankets, while men were relegated Monday night to concrete bleachers. — Amy Guthrie, The Seattle Times, "Aid arrives for migrants at Mexico City stadium as US votes," 6 Nov. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'relegate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.