Substitute meaning

sŭb'stĭ-to͝ot', -tyo͝ot'
The definition of substitute is someone or something used in place of another person or thing.

An example of substitute used as an adjective is a substitute teacher who comes in when a teacher is sick.

adjective
4
1
A word or construction used in place of another word, phrase, or clause.
noun
2
0
Substitute means to use something instead of the originally needed item or to have a person do something for another.

An example of to substitute is to use applesauce instead of oil in a recipe.

An example of to substitute is to have someone run for a hitter in a baseball game.

verb
2
1
One that takes the place of another; a replacement.
noun
2
1
To put or use (a person or thing) in place of another.
verb
2
1
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To put or use in place of another.
verb
1
0
Substitute is defined as a person or thing acting in place of something else.

An example of a substitute is a shirt offered at a store when the original shirt listed in a sale flyer has sold out.

noun
1
1
To replace (one or more atoms or groups in a compound) by other atoms or groups.
verb
0
0
To take the place of another.
verb
0
0
A person or thing serving or used in place of another.
noun
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0
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Any word or word group, as a pronoun, the verb to do, etc., used in place of another word or words (Ex.: did for shouted in “she shouted, and he did, too”)
noun
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To take the place of.
verb
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0
To replace as a substituent.
verb
0
0
To act or serve in place of another.
verb
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0
Being a substitute or substitutes.
adjective
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0
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To use in place of something else, with the same function.

I had no shallots so I substituted onion.

verb
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In the phrase "substitute X for Y", to use X in place of Y.

I had to substitute new parts for the old ones.

verb
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In the phrase "substitute X with/by Y", to use Y in place of X.

I had to substitute old parts with the new ones.

verb
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(sports) To remove (a player) from the field of play and bring on another in his place.

He was playing poorly and was substituted after twenty minutes.

verb
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(intransitive) To serve as a replacement (for someone or something)
verb
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0
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A replacement or stand-in for something that achieves a similar result or purpose.
noun
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(sports) A player who is available to replace another if the need arises, and who may or may not actually do so.
noun
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(historical) One who enlists for military service in the place of a conscript.
noun
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0

Origin of substitute

  • Middle English from Old French substitut from Latin substitūtus past participle of substituere to substitute sub- in place of sub– statuere to cause to stand stā- in Indo-European roots
    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
  • From Latin substitutum, past participle of substituo.
    From Wiktionary

Substitute Sentence Examples

  • I was positive all she did was substitute a different one for each letter in the alphabet.

  • These nuts, as far as they went, were a good substitute for bread.

  • Jessi arrived fifteen minutes early the next day, in case Xander or Ingrid called in a substitute after she quit.

  • "I'm sorry I have to be the substitute but I feel honored," he said.

  • In times of scarcity the Norse peasant-farmer uses the sweetish inner bark, beaten in a mortar and ground in his primitive mill with oats or barley, to eke out a scanty supply of meal, the mixture yielding a tolerably palatable though somewhat resinous substitute for his ordinary flad-brod.

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Related articles

Words near substitute in the Dictionary