place

Place

'Place' is quite a common English word and like many other words can be used as a noun and a verb.

Let's start with the verb

The general meaning is to put something somewhere eg

Can you place the tray on the table? 
He placed his hands on her shoulders

You can also place a bet if you want to gamble: 'I placed a £20 bet on Fastboy, the winner of last year's race'

'Place' can also be used when ordering something from a company/organisation eg I want to place an order for 20 computers. 

As a noun 'place' can refer to a town, an area or an organisation.

Oxford is a great place to live....I love walking past all the old colleges.
Do you want to come back to my place (my home) for a drink?
I couldn't find a parking place anywhere!
I sent my cv to loads of places but no-one replied!

Expressions

If something(s) is 'all over the place' it means it is untidy eg After the strong wind her hair was all over the place. Or: Cups were left all over the place.

'In the first place' can be used to introduce an important reason or point.
Eg I have several complaints about your customer service. In the first place it took me 3 weeks to get a reply to my phone call.  

The expression 'in place of' can be used to say something has been replaced by another eg Because of the bad weather we're going to visit a museum in place of the hill walking.