1,400 new words in our dictionary! — Parasocial, glow-up, promposal & more
1,400 new words in our dictionary! — More

understudying

verb

present participle of understudy
as in substituting

Related Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for understudying
  1. substituting
  2. standing in
  3. subbing
  4. filling in
  5. taking over
  6. pinch-hitting
  7. stepping in
  8. covering
Verb
  • The work demonstrates a way to combine a renewable waste material with nanoscale reinforcement rather than simply substituting one material for another.
    — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 18 Sep. 2026
  • In fact, substituting toys for all hazards and unwanted behaviors are excellent protective measures.
    — Emily Tarinelli, Los Angeles Times, 11 Sep. 2026
Definition of substituting
Verb
  • Getty Images Most Popular Harrow is also a Hollywood favorite, used as a filming location in The Crown (standing in for Eton, its longtime rival) and doubling for Cambridge’s Trinity College in the 2014 film The Theory of Everything.
    — Ashley Baker, Vanity Fair, 22 Sep. 2026
  • Cubs third baseman Alex Bregman has returned to Chicago a day after being hit in the face by a foul ball while standing in front of the on-deck circle during a road game against the Cincinnati Reds.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 21 Sep. 2026
Definition of standing in
Verb
  • Sagapolutele was 27 for 33 with touchdowns to three different Golden Bears before subbing out midway through the third quarter.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 19 Sep. 2026
  • Within 30 seconds of subbing on, Suarez raced past multiple defenders and placed it in the side-netting for the 3-0 lead in the 81st minute.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 17 Sep. 2026
Definition of subbing
Verb
  • The shampoo gently dissolves daily build-up, filling in cracks of damage to leave hair healthy, soft and supple while the rich, luxurious conditioner helps bring damaged hair back to life.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 14 Sep. 2026
  • The fund now focuses on creating new programs to rethink rural health, instead of filling in financial gaps.
    — Daniel Payne, STAT, 14 Sep. 2026
Definition of filling in
Verb
  • Uline, a box and packaging company based in Kenosha County, is taking over for Motorola placing its logo on every Bucks jersey in the 2026-27 season.
    — Ricardo Torres, jsonline.com, 22 Sep. 2026
  • In the long history of artists taking over spaces that once housed the creation of deadly weapons—the Park Avenue Armory in New York, the Arsenale in Venice—Da Corte’s studio was a cannonball factory during the Civil War.
    — Nate Freeman, Vanity Fair, 22 Sep. 2026
Definition of taking over
Verb
  • Harris had to contend with a leadoff single and then a pinch-hitting appearance from Jordan Walker, the Cardinals’ 100-RBI man, but a double-play grounder and another groundball to third base settled matters.
    — Andrew Baggarly, New York Times, 10 Sep. 2026
  • Sabrowski was tasked with retiring Josh Rojas — who was pinch-hitting for Tyler Tolbert.
    — Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 29 Aug. 2026
Definition of pinch-hitting
Verb
  • While stepping in as press secretary, Vance responded to a question from the Washington Examiner about 2028 hopefuls, such as Cruz and War Secretary Pete Hegseth, by telling Republicans to focus on the midterm elections.
    — Claire Carter, The Washington Examiner, 9 Sep. 2026
  • Whenever either of them is absent, Estevao is very capable of stepping in.
    — Liam Twomey, New York Times, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of stepping in
Verb
  • The fundraiser, which as of Friday evening had raised more than $15,000, will go toward covering medical care, vet bills and property damage.
    — Iris Kwok, Los Angeles Times, 26 Sep. 2026
  • Zambia objected to provisions covering the use of health data and also resisted Washington’s effort to link the health agreement to cooperation on critical minerals.
    — Yinka Adegoke, semafor.com, 25 Sep. 2026
Definition of covering
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

understudy
understudying
undersupplies
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Understudying.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/understudying. Accessed 27 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Sept. 25
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
image of the words cracker fly and sale arranged in a triangle with the word fire in the middle
Triple Play Quiz Find the word that pairs with each of the three g...
See All