substitute

noun

/ˈsʌbstɪtjuːt/

/ˈsʌbstɪtuːt/

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a person or thing that you use or have instead of the one you normally use or have
- a meat substitute
- a substitute family
- substitute for somebody/something Paul's father only saw him as a substitute for his dead brother.
- The course teaches you the theory but there's no substitute for practical experience.
- The local bus service was a poor substitute for their car.
Extra Examples
- His teacher acted as a father substitute.
- The company produces substitutes for lead in petrol.
- The television is a poor substitute for human companionship.
- There's no substitute for hard work.
Oxford Collocations Dictionary
adjective
- good
- acceptable
- adequate
- …
verb + substitute
- act as
- serve as
- use something as
- …
substitute + noun
- teacher
preposition
- substitute for
See full entry
(also informal sub)
a player who replaces another player in a sports game
- He was brought on as (a) substitute after half-time.
Topics Sports: ball and racket sportsc1

Word Originlate Middle English (denoting a deputy or delegate): from Latin substitutus ‘put in place of’, past participle of substituere, based on statuere ‘set up’.

substitute

verb

OPAL W

/ˈsʌbstɪtjuːt/

/ˈsʌbstɪtuːt/

[intransitive, transitive]

Verb Forms

present simple I / you / we / they substitute	/ˈsʌbstɪtjuːt/ /ˈsʌbstɪtuːt/
he / she / it substitutes	/ˈsʌbstɪtjuːts/ /ˈsʌbstɪtuːts/
past simple substituted	/ˈsʌbstɪtjuːtɪd/ /ˈsʌbstɪtuːtɪd/
past participle substituted	/ˈsʌbstɪtjuːtɪd/ /ˈsʌbstɪtuːtɪd/
-ing form substituting	/ˈsʌbstɪtjuːtɪŋ/ /ˈsʌbstɪtuːtɪŋ/

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to take the place of somebody/something else; to use somebody/something instead of somebody/something else
- substitute for somebody/something Nothing can substitute for the advice your doctor is able to give you.
- Can you find someone to substitute for you at the meeting?
- substitute A for B Margarine can be substituted for butter in this recipe.
- substitute B with/by A Butter can be substituted with margarine in this recipe.
- substitute somebody/something Kane was substituted in the second half after a knee injury (= somebody else played instead of Kane in the second half).
When for, with or by are not used, as in the last example, it can be difficult to tell whether the person or thing mentioned is being used, or has been replaced by somebody or something else. The context will usually make this clear.
Word Originlate Middle English (denoting a deputy or delegate): from Latin substitutus ‘put in place of’, past participle of substituere, based on statuere ‘set up’.