relegate
verb
rel·e·gate
ˈre-lə-ˌgāt 
relegated; relegating
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
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
Perhaps nothing better illustrated the Bruins’ offseason makeover than the mainstay from a year ago being relegated to a bit player as part of this new ensemble cast.
—
Ben Bolch, Los Angeles Times, 5 Nov. 2024
Rounding out the Top 5 was Bob’s Burgers, relegating Bluey to sixth place.
—Katie Campione, Deadline, 25 Oct. 2024
Reportedly, there was tension among the group because Scherzinger was singing 95 percent of the vocals, according to her own estimate in a 2012 VH1 documentary, while the other Dolls were relegated primarily to dancing.
—Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 21 Oct. 2024
An unwelcome impression begins to gather, that these places, these people, are being relegated to bit players in the larger, more exigent story of Coates’s intellectual evolution, his contemplation of his career and legacy.
—Parul Sehgal, The New Yorker, 14 Oct. 2024
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Ben Bolch, Los Angeles Times, 5 Nov. 2024
Rounding out the Top 5 was Bob’s Burgers, relegating Bluey to sixth place.
—Katie Campione, Deadline, 25 Oct. 2024
Reportedly, there was tension among the group because Scherzinger was singing 95 percent of the vocals, according to her own estimate in a 2012 VH1 documentary, while the other Dolls were relegated primarily to dancing.
—Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 21 Oct. 2024
An unwelcome impression begins to gather, that these places, these people, are being relegated to bit players in the larger, more exigent story of Coates’s intellectual evolution, his contemplation of his career and legacy.
—Parul Sehgal, The New Yorker, 14 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for relegate
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Dictionary Entries Near relegate
Cite this Entry
“Relegate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/relegate. Accessed 30 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
relegate
verb
rel·e·gate
ˈrel-ə-ˌgāt
relegated; relegating
1
: to remove or dismiss to a less important place
relegate some old books to the attic
2
: to refer or hand over for decision or carrying out
relegate that matter to a special committee
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