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
But a trade does appear inevitable, unless the Red Sox are willing to take the chance of relegating a starting player who has missed only five games in the last two seasons to the bench — a situation that rarely works out well.
—
Jon Vankin, MSNBC Newsweek, 6 Dec. 2025
Lilly and Fielding are relegated to the shadows of history.
—Richard Selcer, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 6 Dec. 2025
Suarez’s changing role Uruguayan superstar Luis Suarez, the 38-year-old forward, was relegated to the bench the past two games after serving a suspension during the first-round series against Nashville.
—Michelle Kaufman, Miami Herald, 5 Dec. 2025
The episode tracks the gents' meet-cute when Scott stumbles into the juice shop where Kip works and the two soon spiral into a steamy relationship, one that Scott, fearful of being outed, keeps relegated to the privacy of his apartment.
—Nick Romano, Entertainment Weekly, 5 Dec. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Relegate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/relegate. Accessed 9 Dec. 2025.
Kids 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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