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sub - What does it mean?

Definition of 'sub'

English

Etymology 1

Shortened form of any of various words beginning sub- , such as submarine, subroutine, substitute, subscription. The sandwich is so called because the bun's cylindrical shape resembles the shape of a submarine.

Noun

(en-noun)
  • A submarine.
  • A submarine sandwich—a sandwich made on a long bun.
    • We can get subs at that deli.
  • (US|informal) A substitute.
    • With the score 4 to 1, they brought in subs .
    She worked as a sub until she got her teaching certificate.
  • (British|informal) A substitute in a football (soccer) game: someone who comes on in place of another player part way through the game.
  • * 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.
  • (British|informal|often in plural) Short for subscription: a payment made for membership of a club, etc.
  • (informal) A submissive in BDSM practices.
  • * 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.
  • (Internet|informal) A subtitle.
    • I've just noticed a mistake in the subs for this film.
  • (computing|programming) A 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...
  • (colloquial|dated) A subordinate.
  • (colloquial|dated) A subaltern.
    • Synonyms
    * (submarine sandwich) grinder, hoagie
    Hypernyms
    * (submarine sandwich) sandwich

    Verb

    (subb)
  • (US|informal) To substitute for.
  • (US|informal) To work as a substitute teacher, especially in primary and secondary education.
  • (British|informal|football) 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.
  • (British|informal|football) Less commonly, and 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.
  • (British) To perform the work of a subeditor or copy editor; to subedit.
  • (UK|slang|transitive) To lend.
  • * 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.
  • (slang) To subscribe.
  • (BDSM) To take a submissive role.
  • * 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.

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) sub.

    Preposition

    (en-prep)
  • Under.

    • Verb

  • To coat with a layer of adhering material; to planarize by means of such a coating.
  • (microscopy) To prepare (a slide) with an 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.

    See also

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

    Anagrams

    * * * ----

    Similar to 'sub'

    scab, sib, swab, sb, sob, sab, swob, sweb, shab