colocar
verbo transitivo
1 (situar) (gen) to place; [+cartel] to put up; [+bomba] to plant; place; [+tropas] to position; place; [+baldosa, moqueta, primera piedra] to lay [+cuadro] to hang; (Náutica) [+quilla] to lay down
coloca en cada plato una bola de helado place a scoop of ice cream on each plate; colocamos la estatua en el centro we placed the statue in the centre; de un solo pase colocó la pelota en la portería he put o placed the ball in the net with just one touch; coloca las tazas en su sitio put the cups away; colocaron carteles en el colegio they put posters up around the school; colocar un producto en el mercado to place a product on the market
2 (ordenar) [+muebles, objetos, libros] to arrange
tenemos que colocar los muebles de otro modo we need to arrange the furniture differently; he colocado las revistas por orden alfabético I've arranged the magazines in alphabetical order
colocó a los niños en fila he lined the children up
3 (dar trabajo)
colocar a algn [+agencia] to get sb a job; [+empresario, jefe] to give sb a job; ha colocado a su hermano como camarero en su bar he got his brother a job as a waiter in his bar
5 (casar) to marry off
tiene a todas sus hijas bien colocadas she has all her daughters nicely married off
6 (endilgar)
colocar algo a algn to palm sth off on sb; palm sb off with sth; nos han colocado un vídeo que no funciona they've palmed us off with a video that doesn't work; no sé a quién colocar estas enciclopedias I don't know who to palm these encyclopaedias off on; otra vez quería colocarnos el mismo rollo he tried to fob us off with the same old story again (familiar)
verbo pronominal
colocarse1 (en un lugar) (de pie) to stand; (sentado) to sit
colócate aquí stand here; siempre se coloca en el mismo asiento she always sits in the same seat; me coloqué en primera fila I took my place in the front row
