place
Preserved but no longer current.
To name the first three horses in a race. This is the duty of the judge, who sees nothing of the race but the finish. Sometimes an official will place more than the first three, but this in no way interferes with the meaning of the word as generally received. To run "nowhere" is to be unplaced.
đặt tên cho ba con ngựa đầu tiên trong một cuộc đua
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Era: ca. 1874 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Historical definition reproduced from Hotten’s The Slang Dictionary (1874, public domain; Project Gutenberg #42108, retrieved 2026-07-31). Reflects the attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “place” mean?
To name the first three horses in a race. This is the duty of the judge, who sees nothing of the race but the finish. Sometimes an official will place more than the first three, but this in no way interferes with the meaning of the word as generally received. To run "nowhere" is to be unplaced.
Is “place” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.