relegate
/ˈrɛlɪɡeɪt
/verb [with object]
1Assign an inferior rank or position to: they aim to prevent women from being relegated to a secondary role...
- As a result, even a three-year-old boy becomes the legal chief of the family and his mother is relegated to an inferior social status.
- Most of them were relegated to rear echelon positions or they were stewards on the boats or on the ships.
- We feel that economic failure has created a situation where survival and law have been relegated to antagonistic positions.
Synonyms
downgrade, lower, lower in rank/status, put down, move down;
consign, banish, exile;
demote, degrade, declass, strip someone of their rank, reduce to the ranks, disrate, drum out;
North American bust
1.1British Transfer (a sports team) to a lower division of a league: United were relegated to division two...
- The new blueprint would also relegate two teams from Division 1.
- They have already been relegated from division one of the league only winning one of their thirteen games.
- A win in this match by either club will go a long way towards guaranteeing a place in the Premier Division next season as only one team will be relegated.
Origin
Late Middle English (in the sense 'send into exile'): from Latin relegat- 'sent away, referred', from the verb relegare, from re- 'again' + legare 'send'.
Rhymes
- sitkamer
- Sitka spruce
- sit on
- sit on one's arse
- sit on one's hands
- sit on someone's tail
- sit on the fence
- sitrep
- sit something out
- sits vac
- Sittang
- sittella
- sitter
- sit through
- sit tight
- sitting
- Sitting Bull
- sitting duck
- sitting room
- sitting target
- sitting tenant
- sitting trot
- situate
- situation
- situational