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)

• 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

Power forward Matas Buzelis is almost 21 and might have a breakout year ahead of him; wing subs Isaac Okoro, Ayo Dosunmu and Kevin Huerter are 24, 25 and 27, respectively, and underrated point guard Tre Jones is 25. —John Hollinger, New York Times, 8 Oct. 2025

As goth became more commercialized in the 1990s (hello, Hot Topic), the subculture splintered into sub-subcultures (cyber goth, chola goth, pastel goth, to name a few) and expanded beyond the music scene into a safe space for young people who felt different. —Sophia Panych, Allure, 8 Oct. 2025

Verb

By subbing in Washington-Los Angeles, the league is providing Fox with a far stronger option now that Burrow is in recovery mode. —Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 3 Oct. 2025

Last season, to get an extra boost in the running game, the Bills would sub in reserve offensive lineman Alec Anderson for a skill position player. —Joe Buscaglia, New York Times, 1 Oct. 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