subclass

[suhb-klas, -klahs]

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noun

a primary division of a class.

a subordinate class, especially one of persons who lack the rights and privileges of the primary class: a subclass of alien workers.

Biology. a category of related orders within a class.

verb (used with object)

to place in a subclass.

Origin of subclass

First recorded in 1810–20; sub- + class

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for subclass

Historical Examples of subclass

Difficulty of entitling a subclass corresponding to every combination.
The Classification of Patents
United States Patent Office
This superorder is equivalent to the subclass Azygostei of Hay.
A Guide to the Study of Fishes, Volume 1 (of 2)
David Starr Jordan
This subclass, like the previous one, contains only a single order, viz.
The Vertebrate Skeleton
Sidney H. Reynolds
This subclass contains some of the most remarkable of the seaweeds.
The Sea-beach at Ebb-tide
Augusta Foote Arnold
There remains the fourth subclass—Dipnoi or Dipneusti, the lungfishes.
Zoology: The Science of Animal Life
Ernest Ingersoll

British Dictionary definitions for subclass

subclass

noun

a principal subdivision of a class

biology a taxonomic group that is a subdivision of a class

maths another name for subset (def. 1)

verb

(tr) to assign to a subclass

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

Medicine definitions for subclass