substitute

present singular third person substitutes · participle present substituting · participle past substituted · past substituted

1. transitiveTo use in place of something else, with the same function.

   I had no shallots so I substituted onion.

2. transitiveTo use X in place of Y.

   I had to substitute new parts for the old ones.

3. transitiveformerly proscribed; often in the phrase "substitute X with/by Y"; sometimes "substitute X for Y"; formerly proscribed; often in the phrase "substitute X with/by Y"; sometimes "substitute X for Y"To use Y in place of X; to replace X with Y.

   I had to substitute old parts with the new ones.

   1 more example

   You know when you first have a baby, and you're like "I'm gonna die 'cause I've never slept"? … and you get [an] hour and a half in the middle of the night that you get to sleep. Your partner's like, "I'll take care of this." … I used that hour and a half, instead of sleeping, to watch The Pitt. … The most panic inducing show. … I was just like I was like, "Why do I feel like vomiting 24/7? Oh, I substituted sleep for watching The Pitt."

   2026 January 21, Ally Beardlsey, my boss is sabotaging my clown career (w/ Ally Beardsley), Perfect Person (podcast) episode 185 (c. 14:18)

   Synonyms: exchange

4. transitivehobbiesTo 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

   1 more example

   Mario Balotelli replaced Tevez but his contribution was so negligible that he suffered the indignity of being substituted himself as time ran out, a development that encapsulated a wretched 90 minutes for City and boss Roberto Mancini.

   2011 April 11, Phil McNulty, “Liverpool 3 - 0 Man City”, in BBC Sport

5. intransitiveTo serve as a replacement (for someone or something).

   Accumulation of wealth by this route may substitute for personal saving.

   1987, James Tobin, Essays in Economics, Vol. 2, page 75

plural substitutes

1. A replacement or stand-in for something that achieves a similar result or purpose.

   Here we go. AK-47. The very best there is. When you absolutely, positively got to kill every motherfucker in the room, accept no substitutes.

   1997, Quentin Tarantino, Jackie Brown, spoken by Ordell Robbie (Samuel L. Jackson)

   3 more examples

   Ladies [in William Shakespeare's age], again, universally wore masks as the sole substitute known to our ancestors for the modern parasol; a fact, perhaps, not generally known.

   1840 February, Thomas De Quincey, “Theory of Greek Tragedy”, in Leaders in Literature with a Notice of Traditional Errors Affecting Them (De Quincey’s Works; IX), London: James Hogg & Sons, →OCLC, footnote *, page 55

   Since you left me, if you see me with another girl / Seeming like I'm having fun / Although she may be cute, she's just a substitute / Because you're the permanent one

   1965, “The Tracks of My Tears”, in Going to a Go-Go, performed by Smokey Robinson and The Miracles

   No other love before / Could do what you do / A little so much (Oh) / So much more from you / No one else will do / There's no substitute / Your love's the finest love I've ever known / Ooh-ooh-ooh

   1986, The S.O.S. Band, “The Finest”, in Sands of Time

   Synonyms: substituend, surrogate · Antonyms: substituend, substituendum

2. A substitute teacher.
3. hobbiesA player who is available to replace another if the need arises, and who may or may not actually do so.

   Dean Whitehead opened the scoring shortly after the break with a low finish and substitute Peter Crouch sealed the win with a tap-in.

   2011 November 3, David Ornstein, “Macc Tel-Aviv 1 - 2 Stoke”, in BBC Sport

   Synonyms: reserve

4. historicalOne who enlists for military service in the place of a conscript.
5. abbreviationeconomicsAbbreviation of substitute good.