In their own organisations, they typically occupy the role of troublemaker-in-chief - pushing employees to do more, always wanting to expand faster, hungry to acquire and so forth.

He plays a silent role in the game, and he tends to occupy the role of a deep-lying playmaker more than a defensive stopper.

Now he has to aim for a winning record as captain, however long he occupies that role.

At the same time the loss of traditional skills meant they were less able to occupy the roles that they would have normally taken up.

All three sides occupied a role during wartime conflict.