as in to pay
to come to an agreement with another person or company to do part of a job that you have been hired to do
Parts of the project were subcontracted (out) to specialists.
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Recent Examples of subcontract
Customers who do business with the company must go through the Texas corporation, which subcontracts with Mentink and Collard's shop in southeastern Oklahoma.
—
Dale Denwalt, Oklahoman, 6 Feb. 2026
This was done through a competitive bidding process, but allows Serco to subcontract its work to other providers without inviting tenders in the UK or seeking approval from UK ministries.
—Ameya Paleja, Interesting Engineering, 13 Jan. 2026
The federal agency also subcontracts with other charter companies, including GlobalX, which handled more than half of DHS' charter flights in 2025, according to ICE Flight Monitor at Human Rights First, a group that tracks ICE deportation flights.
—Megan Cerullo, CBS News, 8 Jan. 2026
Next, there is the architectural designer who subcontracts out the filing of plans to license holders.
—Richard Olsen, Forbes.com, 17 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for subcontract
Dale Denwalt, Oklahoman, 6 Feb. 2026
This was done through a competitive bidding process, but allows Serco to subcontract its work to other providers without inviting tenders in the UK or seeking approval from UK ministries.
—Ameya Paleja, Interesting Engineering, 13 Jan. 2026
The federal agency also subcontracts with other charter companies, including GlobalX, which handled more than half of DHS' charter flights in 2025, according to ICE Flight Monitor at Human Rights First, a group that tracks ICE deportation flights.
—Megan Cerullo, CBS News, 8 Jan. 2026
Next, there is the architectural designer who subcontracts out the filing of plans to license holders.
—Richard Olsen, Forbes.com, 17 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for subcontract
Recent Examples of Synonyms for subcontract
Verb
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Tech giants are buying up memory chips like never before, and paying a premium for multiyear contracts.—
Nasteho Said,
Bloomberg,
9 Mar. 2026
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This should be exciting news for the 1 in 6 Americans who deal with infertility, especially those without health insurance or paying out-of-pocket because of inadequate coverage.—
Anna Moeslein,
Glamour,
9 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Amazon frequently contracts with various interstate trucking businesses to transport both empty trailers and trailers containing heavy loads of freight between cities as well as between warehouses and fulfillment centers, authorities said.—
Justin Muszynski,
Hartford Courant,
7 Mar. 2026
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By this time, the scope of her life had contracted.—
Anika Burgess,
New Yorker,
7 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Second, severe winter storms likely put a big damper on hiring in weather-sensitive industries like construction and leisure and hospitality.—
Alicia Wallace,
CNN Money,
6 Mar. 2026
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Mass layoffs in the tech industry started in 2022, after a hiring surge during the pandemic, when demand for online services increased as people were stuck at home.—
Queenie Wong,
Los Angeles Times,
6 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Many analysts and economists are thinking along similar lines, with Deutsche Bank Research Institute recently prompting a proprietary AI tool to forecast what jobs its AI brethren would eliminate, and how.—
Nick Lichtenberg,
Fortune,
23 Feb. 2026
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The old De Lane Lea production facility studio was up the road; the coffee shops were full of jobbing actors and post-production staff.—
Baz Bamigboye,
Deadline,
20 Feb. 2026
Verb
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They were placed in handcuffs and put in the back of a car while FBI agents searched their home and took items such as computers, cell phones and some paper documents, according to the newspaper.—
Teresa Liu,
Daily News,
11 Mar. 2026
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In Kansas, several counties in the southeastern and northeastern area of the state were placed under the watch, set to expire at midnight, including Douglas, Leavenworth, Wyandotte and Johnson counties, among several others.—
Caroline Zimmerman,
Kansas City Star,
11 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The city could also partner with organizations such as the Downtown Davis Business Association and the Davis Chamber of Commerce to strengthen the downtown business district.—
Daniel Lempres,
Sacbee.com,
7 Mar. 2026
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Foreign industries could partner with the state oil company, but only if the government held the controlling share of the joint ventures.—
Antonio Machado Allison,
The Conversation,
6 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Subcontract.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/subcontract. Accessed 12 Mar. 2026.
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