subscribe
Americanverb (used with object)
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subscribes,
present (3rd person singular)
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subscribed,
past participle, past
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subscribing
present participle
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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.
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to give or pay in fulfillment of such a pledge.
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to append one's signature or mark to (a document), as in approval or attestation of its contents.
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to attest by or as by signing.
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to append, as one's signature, at the bottom of a document or the like; sign.
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to agree or assent to.
verb (used without object)
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subscribes,
present (3rd person singular)
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subscribed,
past participle, past
-
subscribing
present participle
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to pledge, as by signing an agreement, to give or pay money as a contribution, gift, or investment.
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to give or pay money in fulfillment of such a pledge.
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to obtain or have a subscription to a publication, concert series, service, etc..
She subscribes to two food magazines.
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to give one's consent; sanction.
I will not subscribe to popular fallacies.
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to sign one's name to a document.
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to give approval to the contents of a document by signing one's name.
verb
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(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
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to inscribe or sign (one's name, etc) at the end of a contract, will, or other document
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to give support or approval
to subscribe to the theory of transubstantiation
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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subscribernoun
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subscribershipnoun
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presubscribeverb
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resubscribeverb
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nonsubscribingadjective
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subscribableadjective
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unsubscribedadjective
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unsubscribingadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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subscribesimple
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subscribessimple
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have subscribedperfect
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has subscribedperfect
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am subscribingprogressive
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are subscribingprogressive
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is subscribingprogressive
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have been subscribingperfect progressive
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has been subscribingperfect progressive
Past
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subscribedsimple
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had subscribedperfect
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was subscribingprogressive
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were subscribingprogressive
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had been subscribingperfect progressive
Future
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.
Vocabulary lists containing subscribe
Latin Root "sub" Words
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Latin Love: Scribere: To write (scrib, scrip)
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The Taming of the Shrew
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Altman initially staked the growth of the business on ChatGPT, betting that more people would subscribe to the chatbot as AI became a bigger part of their lives.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 1, 2026
Patreon, another San Francisco-based company that allows fans to subscribe to exclusive content from influencers, announced on its platform on July 23 that it would be reducing its team by 20%, or roughly 93 employees.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026
Or, you can subscribe directly from the Amicus show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
From Slate ● Jul. 25, 2026
Meta says those who hit the "free monthly usage limit" will have to wait for their free hours to refresh each calendar month unless they subscribe.
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026
He was one of those prissy retirees one sees frequently in New England, the sort who subscribe to antique magazines and carry those canvas tote bags they give as gift premiums on public TV.
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
Evidently, Christine Lagarde, Europe’s top central banker, subscribes to Keynes’s wisdom.
From Barron's ● Jun. 16, 2026
Which my husband subscribes to, and sees automatically in his calendar app.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 13, 2026
The average U.S. household now subscribes to four paid streaming services, costing them $69 per month, according to a digital media report from Deloitte.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 5, 2025
“Everyone is kind of sick of these big-time companies trying to get the best of one another,” said Nick Newton, 30, who lives near San Francisco and subscribes to YouTube TV.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 7, 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
Some owners subscribed to big-city newspapers and simply reset the original articles from these other publications—a practice known as scissoring.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
A video editor for MrBeast, the most subscribed to creator on Youtube, was recently suspended by Kalshi for “near-perfect trading success on markets with low odds” related to MrBeast videos.
From Salon ● May 24, 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
Because racism never made sense to my father, he never subscribed to any of the rules of apartheid.
From "Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood" by Trevor Noah
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
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
Distil Coworking offers a fully equipped office environment for freelancers, remote workers and small businesses, with members subscribing monthly for access to hot desks, a café and 3.5 acres of gardens.
From BBC ● Apr. 6, 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
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
