substitute
a person or thing acting or serving in place of another.
(formerly) a person who, for payment, served in an army or navy in the place of a conscript.
Grammar. a word that functions as a replacement for any member of a class of words or constructions, as do in He doesn't know but I do.
to put (a person or thing) in the place of another.
to take the place of; replace.
Chemistry. to replace (one or more elements or groups in a compound) by other elements or groups.
to act as a substitute.
of or relating to a substitute or substitutes.
composed of substitutes.
Origin of substitute
1Other words for substitute
Other words from substitute
- sub·sti·tut·a·ble, adjective
- sub·sti·tut·a·bil·i·ty, noun
- sub·sti·tut·er, noun
- sub·sti·tut·ing·ly, adverb
- sub·sti·tu·tion, noun
- sub·sti·tu·tion·al, sub·sti·tu·tion·ar·y [suhb-sti-too-shuh-ner-ee, -tyoo-], /ˌsʌb stɪˈtu ʃəˌnɛr i, -ˈtyu-/, adjective
- sub·sti·tu·tion·al·ly, adverb
- in·ter·sub·sti·tut·a·bil·i·ty, noun
- in·ter·sub·sti·tut·a·ble, adjective
- in·ter·sub·sti·tu·tion, noun
- non·sub·sti·tut·ed, adjective
- non·sub·sti·tu·tion, noun
- non·sub·sti·tu·tion·al, adjective
- non·sub·sti·tu·tion·al·ly, adverb
- non·sub·sti·tu·tion·ar·y, adjective
- pre·sub·sti·tute, verb (used with object), pre·sub·sti·tut·ed, pre·sub·sti·tut·ing.
- pre·sub·sti·tu·tion, noun
- pro·sub·sti·tu·tion, adjective
- un·sub·sti·tut·ed, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use substitute in a sentence
His substitutions had no impact, his halftime team talks were ineffective, and his on-field strategy remained dour.
Do some substitutions in those sentences along the lines Thackeray wanted to do with Mein Kampf.
Certainly, similar conversations occur in miniscule Japanese apartments or Mongolian yurts, with appropriate substitutions.
Such tabus and substitutions of names are authenticated in other cases among savages.
The Secret of the Totem | Andrew LangWith a few substitutions, everything he might possibly need was in stock, and would be sent over.
Deathworld | Harry Harrison
We must supply defects by substitutions, and fallacies by their correction.
Novum Organum | Francis BaconThe verse is not nearly so rough as the original; many of the characteristic substitutions are avoided.
The Translations of Beowulf | Chauncey Brewster TinkerThe simplification takes into consideration only the question of food substitutions, price and waste.
Mobilizing Woman-Power | Harriot Stanton Blatch
British Dictionary definitions for substitute
/ (ˈsʌbstɪˌtjuːt) /
(often foll by for) to serve or cause to serve in place of another person or thing
chem to replace (an atom or group in a molecule) with (another atom or group)
logic maths to replace (one expression) by (another) in the context of a third, as replacing x + y for x in 3 x = k gives 3 x + 3 y = k
a person or thing that serves in place of another, such as a player in a game who takes the place of an injured colleague
(as modifier): a substitute goalkeeper Often shortened to: sub
grammar another name for pro-form
Canadian another name for supply teacher
nautical another word for repeater (def. 5)
(formerly) a person paid to replace another due for military service
Origin of substitute
1usage For substitute
Derived forms of substitute
- substitutable, adjective
- substitutability, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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