sub

1 of 5

noun (1)

ˈsəb 

: substitute

sub

2 of 5

verb

subbed; subbing

intransitive verb

: to act as a substitute

transitive verb

1

British : to read and edit as a copy editor : subedit

2

: subcontract sense 1

sub

3 of 5

noun (2)

: submarine

sub

4 of 5

abbreviation

1

subaltern

2

subscription

3

subsidiary

4

suburb

sub-

5 of 5

prefix

1

: under : beneath : below

subsoil

subaqueous

2

a

: subordinate : secondary : next lower than or inferior to

substation

subeditor

b

: subordinate portion of : subdivision of

subcommittee

subspecies

c

: with repetition (as of a process) so as to form, stress, or deal with subordinate parts or relations

sublet

subcontract

3

: less than completely, perfectly, or normally : somewhat

subacute

subclinical

4

a

: almost : nearly

suberect

b

: falling nearly in the category of and often adjoining : bordering on

subarctic

Synonyms of sub

Noun (1)

• substitute
• replacement

Verb

• substitute

Noun (2)

• submarine
• hero

Examples of sub in a Sentence

Noun (1)

we had a sub in English today, so we didn't get our test results back

Verb

Smith subbed for Jones at halftime.

subbing in a Broadway play

Smith subbed Jones at halftime.

Noun (2)

we shared a tuna sub at lunch

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Temer downgraded the Ministry of Culture to a sub-secretariat under the presidential office, stripping it of autonomy and budget. —Caio Delcolli, IndieWire, 26 Nov. 2025

There, it is being used as a sub-base for key foundation platforms. —Jijo Malayil, Interesting Engineering, 24 Nov. 2025

Verb

The Spirit had limited play from star player Trinity Rodman, who sustained a low-grade MCL sprain during a game last month and returned to action during the team's semifinal last week, when she was subbed in at the 90th minute of the match. —Anna Lazarus Caplan, PEOPLE, 23 Nov. 2025

Italy’s Giorgia Meloni was missing from the original line up with stand-ins subbed in for seven leaders missing. —Preston Fore, Fortune, 23 Nov. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Prefix

Middle English, from Latin, under, below, secretly, from below, near, from sub under, close to — more at up

First Known Use

Noun (1)

1777, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1853, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

Noun (2)

1913, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing sub

• sub-adolescent
• sub-agency
• sub-agent
• sub-allocate
• sub-allocation
• sub-aqua
• sub-area
• sub-audible
• sub-average
• sub-basement
• sub-basin
• sub-block
• sub-branch
• sub-caste
• sub-ceiling
• sub-cellar
• sub-chapter
• sub-chief
• sub-clan
• sub-cluster
• sub-code
• sub-collection
• sub-college
• sub-collegiate
• sub-colony
• sub-commission
• sub-component
• sub-county
• sub-cult
• sub-dean
• sub-decision
• sub-department
• sub-development
• sub-dialect
• sub-director
• sub-directory
• sub-discipline
• sub-district
• sub-economy
• sub-faculty
• sub-file
• sub-folder
• sub-fragment
• sub-frame
• sub-generation
• sub-genre
• sub-goal
• sub-government
• sub-industry
• sub judice
• sub-language
• sub-level
• sub-lot
• sub-manager
• sub-market
• sub-maximal
• sub-maximally
• sub-menu
• sub-minimal
• sub-minimum
• sub-minister
• sub-national
• sub-network
• sub-niche
• sub-optimal
• sub-optimally
• sub-optimization
• sub-optimize
• sub-optimum
• sub-organization
• sub-panel
• sub-par
• sub-paragraph
• sub-parallel
• sub-part
• sub-period
• sub-phase
• sub-process
• sub-product
• sub-project
• sub-rational
• sub rosa
• sub-Saharan
• sub-scale
• sub-science
• sub-sea
• sub-secretary
• sub-sector
• sub-segment
• sub-sentence
• sub-series
• sub-site
• sub-skill
• sub-society
• sub-specialist
• sub-specialization
• sub-specialize
• sub-specialty
• sub specie aeternitatis
• sub-state
• sub-stellar
• sub-system
• sub-task
• sub-test
• sub-theme
• sub-therapeutic
• sub-topic
• sub-treasury
• sub-trend
• sub-tribe
• sub-type
• sub-unit
• sub-variety
• sub-visible
• sub-visual
• sub-world
• sub-writer
• sub-zero
• sub-zone

Rhymes for sub

• bub
• club
• cub
• dub
• grub
• hub
• nub
• pub
• rub
• scrub
• shrub
• snub

Kids Definition

sub

1 of 4 noun

ˈsəb 

: substitute entry 1

sub

2 of 4 verb

subbed; subbing

: to act as a substitute

sub

3 of 4 noun

: submarine entry 2

sub-

4 of 4 prefix

1

: under : beneath : below

subsoil

subfreezing

2

a

: being at a lower rank or secondary level

substation

b

: division or lesser part of

subcommittee

subtopic

c

: involving a secondary stage or process

sublet

subcontract

3

: less than completely, perfectly, or typically : somewhat

subdominant

4

: bordering upon

subarctic

Etymology

Prefix

from Latin sub- "under, below"

Legal Definition

sub-

prefix

1

: under : beneath : below

substandard

2

a

: subordinate : secondary : next lower than or inferior to

subagent

b

: subordinate portion of : subdivision of

subchapter

subcommittee

c

: assigning to another by the same method

sublicense

subcontract