position

noun

• 1a place where someone or something is located or has been put:the distress call had given the ship’s position Mrs. Snell had taken up her position on the bottom step of the stairs
• the location where someone or something should be; the correct place:the lid was put into position and screwed down make sure that no slates have slipped out of position
• (often positions) a place where part of a military force is posted for strategic purposes:the guns were shelling the German positions

• 2a particular way in which someone or something is placed or arranged:he moved himself into a reclining position a cramp forced her to change position
• in a game of chess, the configuration of the pieces and pawns on the board at any point.
• Music a particular location of the hand on the fingerboard of a stringed instrument:be familiar with the first six positions across the four strings
• Music a particular location of the slide of a trombone.
• Music the arrangement of the constituent notes of a chord.

• 3a situation or set of circumstances, especially one that affects one’s power to act:the company’s financial position is grim [with infinitive]:we felt we were not in a position to judge the merits of the case
• a job:she retired from her position as marketing director
• the state of being placed where one has an advantage over one’s rivals in a competitive situation:his successors were already jockeying for position
• a person’s place or rank in relation to others, especially in a competitive situation:he made up ground to finish in second position
• high rank or social standing:a woman of supposed wealth and position
• (in team games) a set of functions considered as the responsibility of a particular player based on the location in which they play:it gives every player a chance to play every fielding position

• 4a person’s particular point of view or attitude toward something:I’ll never accept his position on censorship

• 5an investor’s net holdings in one or more markets at a particular time; the status of an individual or institutional trader’s open contracts:traders were covering short positions

• 6 Logic a proposition laid down or asserted; a tenet or assertion.

verb

• put or arrange (someone or something) in a particular place or way:he pulled out a chair and positioned it between them she positioned herself on a bench
• promote (a product, service, or business) within a particular sector of a market, or as the fulfillment of that sector’s specific requirements:a comprehensive development plan that will position the city as a major economic force in the region
• portray or regard (someone) as a particular type of person:I had positioned her as my antagonist