subsidiary company

American

noun

a company whose controlling interest is owned by another company.

subsidiary company British

noun

a company with at least half of its capital stock owned by another company

"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

Etymology

Origin of subsidiary company

First recorded in 1915–20

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.

Chelsea posted a profit of £128.4m in the previous year's accounts but this was aided by the sale of the women's team to Blueco Midco -- a subsidiary company -- for nearly £200 million.

From Barron's • Apr. 1, 2026

STM Brighton Group, a subsidiary company of Revantage, has undertaken remediation work at the brownfield site since it was acquired in 2008.

From BBC • Feb. 5, 2026

He also detailed TikTok's plan for addressing congressional concerns, including the company's strategy to move all its U.S. data to a U.S.-headquartered subsidiary company under a U.S.-led data security team.

From Salon • Mar. 26, 2023

J&J used the bankruptcy of a subsidiary company, LTL Management, to halt more than 38,000 lawsuits from plaintiffs alleging the company’s baby powder and other talc products caused cancer.

From Reuters • Mar. 22, 2023

A subsidiary company formed to handle that end would pay well in a few years when the place got going.

From The Land of Strong Men by Chisholm, A. M. (Arthur Murray)

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023