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

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

Super sub Braun, who also was on the floor at the conclusion of the Nuggets’ 115-107 series-tying Game Four victory in Minnesota, had 11 points on 3-of-4 shooting (1-1 from 3) in 25 minutes in that contest. —Gary Bedore, Kansas City Star, 16 May 2024

Jordi Alba returned after missing three games with a hamstring injury, and came in as a sub for Negri in the 64th minute. —Michelle Kaufman, Miami Herald, 16 May 2024

Hence the sub pattern in Game 1 and Game 2, featuring a few minutes of Watson alongside Jokic while Gordon was getting a breather. —Bennett Durando, The Denver Post, 14 May 2024

There’s a terrified sub in boxer briefs, tied to a wall with an apple stuffed in his mouth like a Christmas pig. —Ej Dickson, Rolling Stone, 10 May 2024

This sub dial receives Super LumiNova hour markers, and a set of blued hands hosting Globolight inserts to track the time in a surprisingly legible manner. —Blake Buettner, Robb Report, 8 May 2024

And Levin, who works out of UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography, was one of the few scientists who was given research time aboard the sub this year. —Gary Robbins, San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 May 2024

The energetic midfielder scored against New England shortly after coming on as a sub for Julian Gressel in the 75th minute. —Michelle Kaufman, Miami Herald, 3 May 2024

Additionally, now through June 30, for every $25 gift card purchased in-restaurant and online, customers will receive a bonus card redeemable for a free 6-inch sub, with four bonuses maximum for purchases over $100, the company said in a news release. —Gabe Hauari, USA TODAY, 2 May 2024

Verb

While in the past, real cats have been used, amid increasing concerns about animal abuse, Hello Kitty dolls and other lifeless alternatives have been subbed in instead in recent years. —Chad De Guzman, TIME, 3 May 2024

With Painter’s pitch count at 78, Pittsburg coach Marco Cartagena subbed out his starter, who is still working his way back from an injury sustained earlier in the season. —Nathan Canilao, The Mercury News, 19 Apr. 2024

His biggest mistake was dedicating a track to Kendrick, when Dot just sent a couple subs his way, while taking direct aim at Drake. —Angel Diaz, Billboard, 16 Apr. 2024

She had just been subbed out, and the Hawkeye-heavy crowd in Cleveland offered her a proper round of applause. —Sean Gregory, TIME, 8 Apr. 2024

Union Hmong Kitchen is subbing out last year’s noodle dish for a banh mi brat with Hmong sausage, which chef Yia Vang said is a dish he’s been playing around with behind the scenes after it was created almost by accident for a post-shift meal. —Jared Kaufman, Twin Cities, 2 Apr. 2024

He was subbed out at the first whistle, less than two minutes into the game, for Rodman, who had seven rebounds — six defensive — with six points. —Thuc Nhi Nguyen, Los Angeles Times, 2 Feb. 2024

While executing complex crash and high-speed chase sequences, Summers has doubled for actors such as Sarah Paulson, Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Ming-Na Wen ; while Bryant has subbed in for Angela Bassett, Regina King and Kerry Washington. —Christi Carras, Los Angeles Times, 10 Apr. 2024

On Monday, the 52-year-old musician and Oscar-winning actor subbed in as a host on the beloved game show alongside Vanna White as part of an April Fools’ Day prank. —Kirsty Hatcher, Peoplemag, 2 Apr. 2024

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

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