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

Noun (1)

• backup
• cover
• designated hitter
• fill-in
• locum tenens
• pinch hitter
• relief
• replacement
• reserve
• stand-in
• substitute

Verb

• cover
• fill in
• pinch-hit
• stand in
• step in
• substitute
• take over

Noun (2)

• Cuban sandwich
• grinder
• hero
• hoagie
• hoagy
• Italian sandwich
• po'boy
• poor boy
• submarine
• torpedo

Examples of sub in a Sentence

Verb

Smith subbed for Jones at halftime.

subbing in a Broadway play

Smith subbed Jones at halftime.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Well, that Memphis sub has earned its place in this lineup. —Jack Baruth, Popular Mechanics, 6 Sep. 2023

According to a press release, customers who receive a special coupon before the opening can make a minimum $3 contribution to Lighthouse Youth and Family Services in exchange for a regular sub. —Haadiza Ogwude, The Enquirer, 5 Sep. 2023

After playing subs for most of the second half in its first two games, Oregon State was pressed to the finish Saturday. —Ndaschel, oregonlive, 16 Sep. 2023

With a few clever subs, associate food editor Rachel Gurjar employs many of the same principles as pasta alla vodka to inform this riff, resulting in a bowl of spaghetti with even more flavor. —Li Goldstein, Bon Appétit, 2 Sep. 2023

Firehouse is offering a free medium sub with purchase of a medium or large sub, chips, and drink on September 4. —Katie Bowlby, Country Living, 1 Sep. 2023

Regardless, there’s a growing argument that subs can no longer hide in the quiet, and instead may have to operate in a sea of noise. —Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, 31 Aug. 2023

The sub has little trouble blowing the steamship out of the water, but that leaves 26 Belgian soldiers stranded in a pair of lifeboats. —Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 30 Aug. 2023

This sub features pepperoni, salami, turkey, ham, roast beef, double provolone cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, red onions, mayonnaise and Subway’s MVP vinaigrette. —Sabrina Weiss, Peoplemag, 29 Aug. 2023

Verb

Ertz subbed out in the 35th minute to a standing ovation from the crowd at TQL Stadium, shorty after Trinity Rodman’s goal that made it 2-0. —Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 22 Sep. 2023

Just to be safe, maybe one of our other portable tailgate recipes could sub in a pinch. —Abigail Wilt, Southern Living, 20 Sep. 2023

For a mocktail version, sub the alcohol for seltzer and enjoy! —Blake Bakkila, Sunset Magazine, 15 Sep. 2023

For example, subbing beans for chicken in a vegetable stir-fry once a week could save roughly $400 annually and meet your protein quota. —Leslie Goldman, Better Homes & Gardens, 14 Sep. 2023

Megan Rapinoe subbed in by Coach Vlatko Andonovski for Alex Morgan. —NBC News, 6 Aug. 2023

Cristhian Paredes picked up a yellow card in the 82nd minute for Portland, soon after subbed off for newcomer Antony. —oregonlive, 10 Sep. 2023

At times, Alabama didn’t have its secondary lined up properly after subbing someone on late due to Texas’ hurry-up offense. —Nick Alvarez | [e-mail], al, 10 Sep. 2023

Kiki Van Zanten didn’t play in those games but did play the first 45 minutes against Colombia before being subbed out. —Matt Le Cren, Chicago Tribune, 28 Aug. 2023

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

See More

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

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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