subscribe

American  

[suhb-skrahyb] / səbˈskraɪb /

verb (used with object)

• subscribes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• subscribed,
  past participle,  past
• subscribing
  present participle

1. to pledge, as by signing an agreement, to give or pay (a sum of money) as a contribution, gift, or investment.

   He subscribed $6,000 for the new church.

2. to give or pay in fulfillment of such a pledge.

3. to append one's signature or mark to (a document), as in approval or attestation of its contents.

4. to attest by or as by signing.

5. to append, as one's signature, at the bottom of a document or the like; sign.

6. to agree or assent to.

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verb (used without object)

• subscribes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• subscribed,
  past participle,  past
• subscribing
  present participle

1. to pledge, as by signing an agreement, to give or pay money as a contribution, gift, or investment.

2. to give or pay money in fulfillment of such a pledge.

3. to obtain or have a subscription to a publication, concert series, service, etc..

   She subscribes to two food magazines.

4. to give one's consent; sanction.

   I will not subscribe to popular fallacies.

5. to sign one's name to a document.

6. to give approval to the contents of a document by signing one's name.

subscribe British  

/ səbˈskraɪb /

verb

1. (usually foll by to) to pay or promise to pay (a sum of money) as a contribution (to a fund or charity, for a magazine, etc), esp at regular intervals

2. to inscribe or sign (one's name, etc) at the end of a contract, will, or other document

3. to give support or approval

   to subscribe to the theory of transubstantiation

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• subscriber
  noun
• subscribership
  noun
• presubscribe
  verb
• resubscribe
  verb
• nonsubscribing
  adjective
• subscribable
  adjective
• unsubscribed
  adjective
• unsubscribing
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• subscribing
  present
• subscribed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• subscribe
  simple
• subscribes
  simple
• have subscribed
  perfect
• has subscribed
  perfect
• am subscribing
  progressive
• are subscribing
  progressive
• is subscribing
  progressive
• have been subscribing
  perfect progressive
• has been subscribing
  perfect progressive

Past

• subscribed
  simple
• had subscribed
  perfect
• was subscribing
  progressive
• were subscribing
  progressive
• had been subscribing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will subscribe
  simple
• will have subscribed
  perfect
• will be subscribing
  progressive
• will have been subscribing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of subscribe

1375–1425; late Middle English subscriben < Latin subscrībere, equivalent to sub- sub- + scrībere to write

Explanation

If you subscribe to something, you sign up to receive it regularly. If you subscribe to the New York Times, it's delivered to your door every morning or you get online access. When you subscribe to a belief, you adopt it as your own. You might subscribe to the notion that children should be seen and not heard, or you might wholeheartedly subscribe to your town's proposal to save the wetlands. A less common use of subscribe is to sign your name on something, reflecting the origin of the word, which comes from the Latin subscribere, "to write below," that is, to sign at the bottom of a document.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

subscribe subscribes subscribed subscribing

But he told the BBC: "There's no way that a combined Paramount+ and HBO Max streaming service won't end up costing more for those who subscribe to only one of the services."

From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026

Investors can either make a "direct, non-refundable contribution of $350,000 to the National Treasury" or "subscribe to an $800,000 government bond created specifically" for the purpose.

From Barron's ● Oct. 2, 2026

The package costs as much as $480 for customers who don’t also subscribe to YouTube TV.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 13, 2026

You can subscribe here to get the research when it goes live.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 31, 2026

Many former friends thought the paper was too radical or too embarrassing, and they refused to subscribe.

From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling

“Sarah is reaching out directly to voters and offers this unique perspective that you don’t usually hear,” said Ryan Brenizer, a 47-year-old photographer in Montvale, N.J., who subscribes to the Bulwark.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 13, 2026

The average U.S. household now subscribes to four streaming services, paying an average of $69 per month, according to a recent digital-media report from Deloitte.

From MarketWatch ● Mar. 2, 2026

Tesla fleet currently subscribes to FSD, with investors anticipating future growth from a robo-taxi platform.

From Barron's ● Dec. 14, 2025

While Keridan cut Disney+, her family still subscribes to YouTube Premium and Paramount+.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 21, 2025

Sobol subscribes to William Glasser’s Choice Theory: Students will do well if four basic needs are addressed in the educational classroom or performance setting.

From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin

The last step was drizzling a tablespoon of good olive oil over the batter which was a trick I had learned in one of the myriad baking newsletters I now subscribed to.

From Salon ● Sep. 26, 2026

Unitree said that the retail tranche of its offering was more than 5,500 times subscribed.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026

About 6.3 million accounts have subscribed to a premium plan on X.

From MarketWatch ● May 21, 2026

Currently, the California Energy Commission handles the highly subscribed, state-funded program, which serves Californians in every legislative district.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 14, 2026

He subscribed to the Atlantic Monthly and the National Geographic.

From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck

Cadman pleaded guilty to federal charges of conspiracy against rights and subscribing to a false tax return and is awaiting sentencing.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026

Bernstein expects Tencent’s agentic AI rollout to happen gradually and monetization to come via merchants subscribing to the new agentic AI services to get more traffic.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026

To cobble together the package of content you want requires subscribing to multiple services at ever-increasing cost.

From MarketWatch ● May 28, 2026

Over the past four weeks of subscribing to Good Inside, I’ve taken this approach more.

From Slate ● May 10, 2026

“I’m guessing you saw the latest vlog and you’re not too impressed. Whereas I’m impressed you’re actually subscribing to me. See, I see you in my channel’s new subscribers list from yesterday: janjan123,” Sausun says.

From "Saints and Misfits" by S.K. Ali

Related Words

• ante up
• sign up