To supplant means to take the place of something or someone by pushing them out or replacing them. When a new technology supplants an old one, it doesn't just become popular alongside it: it actually forces the old technology out of use. DVDs supplanted VHS tapes, and then streaming services supplanted DVDs.

The word carries a sense of displacement, often with a bit of force or strategy involved. When a new student supplants the previous class president's popularity, they don't just become equally popular: they actually replace that person as the most influential student. In nature, an invasive plant species might supplant native plants by growing so aggressively that it crowds them out.

Supplant is different from simply replacing something that wore out or broke. When you supplant something, you're actively pushing it aside, often while it's still functioning. The old thing might have been working perfectly fine, but the new thing proved more effective, more popular, or more powerful. A rival might attempt to supplant a team captain by proving themselves more skilled or more popular with teammates.