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sub

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

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See also: sub-, sub., súb, and ␚

Translingual

Symbol

sub

  1. (international standards) ISO 639-3 language code for Suku.

See also

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

  • Shortened form of any of various words beginning with sub-.

Noun

sub (plural subs)

  2. Abbreviation of submarine.
    • 1989, James Cameron, The Abyss (motion picture), spoken by Alan "Hippy" Carnes (Todd Graff):
      You know, we got Russian subs creepin' around; anythin' goes wrong they can say whatever they want happened! Give their folks medals!
  4. Clipping of submarine sandwich: a sandwich made on a long bun.
    Synonyms: submarine, grinder, hero, hero sandwich, hoagie, po' boy, spuckie, torpedo, wedge
    Hypernyms: sandwich < food, meal
    We can get subs at that deli.
  6. (nautical) Clipping of submersible.
  8. (informal) Clipping of substitute, often in sports or teaching.
    With the score 4 to 1, they brought in subs.
    She worked as a sub until she got her teaching certificate.
    • 1930, Boy's Live, Philip Scruggs, There Can Be Victory, page 20:
      At any other school you would be playing varsity, and Wallace has you pigeon-holed on the subs." "Maybe he has his reasons," Jim replied. "And he hasn't pigeon-holed me on the subs yet — not this season.
  9. (British, informal, often in plural) Clipping of subscription (“a payment made for membership of a club, etc.”).
    • 1951, H. L. Gold, “Annual Report”, in Galaxy Science Fiction, volume 2, number 6, page 2:
      According to the best available information, GALAXY has several times as many subs as any other science fiction magazine!
    • 1985 February 2, 18, “Personal advertisement”, in Gay Community News, volume 12, number 28, page 18:
      My friend Keith got me a sub to your paper for my Christmas present.
  11. (Internet, informal) Clipping of subtitle
    Synonyms: CC, S
    I've just noticed a mistake in the subs for this film.
  13. (computing, programming) Clipping of subroutine (sometimes one that does not return a value, as distinguished from a function, which does)
    • 2002, Nathan Patwardhan, Ellen Siever, Stephen Spainhour, Perl in a nutshell:
      The default accessor can be overridden by declaring a sub of the same name in the package.
    • 2004, P. K. McBride, Introductory Visual Basic.NET, page 49:
      So far, all the subs and functions that we have used have been those built into the system, or those written to handle events from controls […]
  15. (colloquial) Clipping of subeditor
  17. (colloquial) Clipping of subcontractor
    • 2025 June 3, Cullen Murphy, “Feudalism Is Our Future: What the next Dark Ages could look like”, in The Atlantic‎:
      Evoking the train of power that enables effective government, [historian Ramsay MacMullen] wrote: “At every point of connection the original intent must be transmitted as it was received. Otherwise it will come to nothing.” Control and accountability are the bedrock. Control: Who makes the decisions and who decides whether they will be executed—and for whose benefit? Accountability: Who determines whether something has gone wrong, and who determines whether the problem is fixed? In a privatized world, government becomes “diffuse, unstable, unpredictable,” and the skein of responsibility more and more attenuated. Contractors hire subcontractors, who hire subcontractors of their own. “I can’t tell you about the sub to the sub to the sub,” a NATO official told The New York Times in 2010 when asked about convoy guards in Afghanistan who turned out to be in league with the Taliban. Throughout much of our spun-off government today, “the sub to the sub to the sub” is almost a job description.
  19. (slang) Clipping of subwoofer
  21. (publishing, colloquial) Clipping of submission (of a work for publication).
  23. (BDSM, informal) Clipping of submissive
    • 2004, Paul Baker, Fantabulosa: A Dictionary of Polari and Gay Slang:
      […] roleplay where a sub or bottom takes care of a top's bodily and hygiene needs […]
    • 2007, Laurell K Hamilton, The Harlequin:
      "It means that I'm both a sub and a dom." "Submissive and dominant," I said. He nodded.
    • 2008, Lannie Rose, How to Change Your Sex:
      Typically a dom and a sub have a more or less standard routine that they like to go through all the time.
    • 2012, “Karai's Vendetta”, in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles‎:
      We're not that kind of sub!
      (implied in dual meaning of submissive and submarine)
  25. (colloquial, dated) Clipping of subordinate
  27. (colloquial, dated) Clipping of subaltern
    • 1911, J. Milton Hayes, The Green Eye of the Yellow God:
      He was known as 'Mad Carew' by the subs at Khatmandu,
      He was hotter than they felt inclined to tell;
      But for all his foolish pranks, he was worshipped in the ranks,
      And the Colonel's daughter smiled on him as well.
  29. (colloquial, Internet) Clipping of subscription (or (by extension) a subscriber) to an online channel or feed.
    I'm totally stoked; just got 10 new subs after my last video.
  31. (colloquial) Clipping of subsistence money, part of a worker's wages paid before the work is finished.
  33. (Internet slang) Clipping of subreddit.
  35. (Philippines, colloquial) Clipping of subject (“particular area of study”)
Derived terms
Translations

Verb

sub (third-person singular simple present subs, present participle subbing, simple past and past participle subbed)

  1. (US, informal) To substitute for.
  2. (US, informal) To work as a substitute teacher, especially in primary and secondary education.
  3. (British, informal, soccer) To replace (a player) with a substitute.
    He never really made a contribution to the match, so it was no surprise when he was subbed at half time.
  4. (British, informal, soccer, less common, often as "sub on") To bring on (a player) as a substitute.
    He was subbed on half way through the second half, and scored within minutes.
  5. (British) To perform the work of a subeditor or copy editor; to subedit.
  6. (slang, Internet, transitive) To subtitle (usually a film or television program).
  7. (UK, slang, transitive) To lend (a person) money.
    • 2011, Rowland Rivron, What the F*** Did I Do Last Night?:
      I kept up the pleasantries as we were drying our hands and, realizing I didn't have any change for the lodger, I asked him, one drummer to another like, if he could sub me a quid for the dish.
  8. (slang, intransitive) To subscribe.
  9. (BDSM) To take a submissive role.
    • 2012, Alicia White, Jessica's Breakdown, page 53:
      You've never subbed before. Jessica will be expecting a man on stage that follows orders and enjoys what she's going to be doing. Do you want to be spanked? Possibly whipped?
    • 2012, Tiffany Reisz, Little Red Riding Crop:
      Wasn't like she'd never subbed before. She'd been a sub longer than she'd been a Dominatrix–ten years she'd spent in a collar.
Derived terms

See also

  • switch (one who is willing to take either a sadistic or a masochistic role)

Etymology 2

From Latin sub.

Preposition

sub

  1. Under.

Verb

sub (third-person singular simple present subs, present participle subbing, simple past and past participle subbed)

  1. To coat with a layer of adhering material; to planarize by means of such a coating.
  2. (microscopy) To prepare (a slide) with a layer of transparent substance to support and/or fix the sample.
    • 1997, Marina A. Lynch, S. M. O'Mara (editors), Ali D. Hames, D. Rickwood (series editors), Neuroscience Labfax, page 166,
      Ensure that gloves are worn when handling subbed slides. Although the following protocol describes subbing with gelatin, slides may also be coated with either 3-(triethoxysilyl-)propylamine (TESPA) or poly-L-lysine for in situ hybridization.

Anagrams

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Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English sub.

Pronunciation

Noun

sub c (plural subs, no diminutive)

  1. submarine, sub

Esperanto

Etymology

From Latin sub.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /sub/
  • Audio:(file)
  • Rhymes: -ub
  • Hyphenation: sub

Preposition

sub

  1. under, below

Antonyms

Ido

Preposition

sub

  1. under, below

Italian

Latin

Old Tupi

Portuguese

Romanian

Spanish

Swedish

Vietnamese

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