verb (past and past participlesub·sti·tut·ed, present participlesub·sti·tut·ing, 3rd person present singularsub·sti·tutes)
Definition:
1. transitive and intransitive verb replace somebody or something: to put somebody or something in place of another, or take the place of another
(
often passive
)
2. transitive verb chemistry replace atom or atoms: to replace an atom or group of atoms in a molecule with another atom or group
3. transitive verb mathematics replace mathematical element: to replace one mathematical element with another of equal value
noun (pluralsub·sti·tutes)
Definition:
1. replacement: somebody or something that takes the place of another Herb teas can be a pleasant substitute for coffee or tea.
2. sports replacement player: a team member in a game who is ready to replace another on the field
3. North America grammar grammatically replaceable word: a word that can take the place of another grammatically, e.g. "did" for "yelled" in the sentence "I yelled and he did, too"
[15th century. < Latin substitutus, past participle of substituere "set up under" < statuere (see statue)]
