sub
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: sŭb
ipa: /sʌb/
ipa: /sʊb/
rhymes: -ʌb
Forms: form: subs
Etymology: * Shortened form of any of various words beginning with sub-.
Senses: examples: text: You know, we got Russian subs creepin' around; anythin' goes wrong they can say whatever they want happened! Give their folks medals!
ref: 1989, James Cameron, The Abyss (motion picture), spoken by Alan "Hippy" Carnes (Todd Graff):
glosses: Abbreviation of submarine.
examples: text: We can get subs at that deli.
synonyms: submarine#Noun
grinder#Noun
hero#Noun
hero sandwich#Noun
hoagie#Noun
po' boy#Noun
spuckie#Noun
torpedo#Noun
wedge#Noun
hypernyms: sandwich#Noun
<
food#Noun
meal#Noun
glosses: Clipping of submarine sandwich: a sandwich made on a long bun.
topics: nautical
transport
glosses: Clipping of submersible.
examples: text: With the score 4 to 1, they brought in subs.
text: She worked as a sub until she got her teaching certificate.
text: 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.
ref: 1930, Boy's Live, Philip Scruggs, There Can Be Victory, page 20:
glosses: Clipping of substitute, often in sports or teaching.
examples: text: According to the best available information, GALAXY has several times as many subs as any other science fiction magazine!
ref: 1951, H. L. Gold, “Annual Report”, in Galaxy Science Fiction, volume 2, number 6, page 2:
text: My friend Keith got me a sub to your paper for my Christmas present.
ref: 1985 February 2, 18, “Personal advertisement”, in Gay Community News, volume 12, number 28, page 18:
glosses: Clipping of subscription (“a payment made for membership of a club, etc.”).
examples: text: I've just noticed a mistake in the subs for this film.
synonyms: CC
S
glosses: Clipping of subtitle
examples: text: The default accessor can be overridden by declaring a sub of the same name in the package.
ref: 2002, Nathan Patwardhan, Ellen Siever, Stephen Spainhour, Perl in a nutshell:
text: 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 […]
ref: 2004, P. K. McBride, Introductory Visual Basic.NET, page 49:
topics: computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
programming
sciences
glosses: Clipping of subroutine (sometimes one that does not return a value, as distinguished from a function, which does)
glosses: Clipping of subeditor
examples: text: 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.
ref: 2025 June 3, Cullen Murphy, “Feudalism Is Our Future: What the next Dark Ages could look like”, in The Atlantic:
glosses: Clipping of subcontractor
glosses: Clipping of subwoofer
topics: media
publishing
glosses: Clipping of submission (of a work for publication).
examples: text: […] roleplay where a sub or bottom takes care of a top's bodily and hygiene needs […]
ref: 2004, Paul Baker, Fantabulosa: A Dictionary of Polari and Gay Slang:
text: "It means that I'm both a sub and a dom." "Submissive and dominant," I said. He nodded.
ref: 2007, Laurell K Hamilton, The Harlequin:
text: Typically a dom and a sub have a more or less standard routine that they like to go through all the time.
ref: 2008, Lannie Rose, How to Change Your Sex:
text: We're not that kind of sub!
ref: 2012, “Karai's Vendetta”, in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles:
topics: BDSM
lifestyle
sexuality
glosses: Clipping of submissive
glosses: Clipping of subordinate
examples: text: 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.
ref: 1911, J. Milton Hayes, The Green Eye of the Yellow God:
glosses: Clipping of subaltern
examples: text: I'm totally stoked; just got 10 new subs after my last video.
glosses: Clipping of subscription (or (by extension) a subscriber) to an online channel or feed.
glosses: Clipping of subsistence money, part of a worker's wages paid before the work is finished.
glosses: Clipping of subreddit.
glosses: Clipping of subject (“particular area of study”)
Derived terms: fansub
party sub