Link Centre Dictionary

substitute

subs·ti·tute

UK/ˈsʌb.stɪ.tʃuːt/ US/ˈsʌb.stɪ.tjuːt/ fairly common
verb (3) noun (3) adjective (3)

verb

1.

put in the place of another; switch seemingly equivalent items

  • “the con artist replaced the original with a fake Rembrandt”
  • “substitute regular milk with fat-free milk”
Synonyms
2.

be a substitute

  • “The young teacher had to substitute for the sick colleague”
  • “The skim milk substitutes for cream--we are on a strict diet”
Synonyms
3.

act as a substitute

  • “She stood in for the soprano who suffered from a cold”
Synonyms

noun

1.

a person or thing that takes or can take the place of another

Synonyms
2.

an athlete who plays only when another member of the team drops out

Synonyms
3.

someone who takes the place of another (as when things get dangerous or difficult)

  • “the star had a stand-in for dangerous scenes”
  • “we need extra employees for summer fill-ins”
Synonyms

adjective

1.

being a replacement or substitute for a regular member of a team

Synonyms
Similar
2.

capable of substituting in any of several positions on a team

  • “a utility infielder”
Synonyms
Similar
3.

artificial and inferior

  • “ersatz coffee”
  • “substitute coffee”
Synonyms
Similar

Origin

From Middle English substituten, from Latin substitutus, past participle of substituō, from sub- (“under; beneath”) + statuō (“to put up; establish”). Displaced native Old English spala (“a substitute”) and spelian (“to substitute”).

Phrases

  • milk substitute
  • salt substitute
  • service as a software substitute
  • substitute teacher
  • sugar substitute

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

Parts

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.