Dictionary

sub out en · VERB

Etymology

Short for substitute out or subcontract out

Meanings

1. (transitive) To replace with a substitute: to substitute (something or someone).
   • While McGraw subbed out Wilson, he allowed pitcher Lon Warneke to hit for himself. 2014, Lew Freedman, The Day All the Stars Came Out, page 103:
   • I've listed sample habits to demonstrate how you might sub out an unproductive one with a productive one. 2013, Karen Elizaga, Find Your Sweet Spot, page 87:
   • It's this single word also that Dickenson's editors subbed out for the 1896 edition of her poems, rendering the line instead, “But sequence ravelled out of reach / like balls upon a floor.” 2010, Kazim Ali, Orange Alert, page 183:
   • The thyme can be subbed out for rosemary or sage, if you prefer. 2018, Rebecca Sullivan, The Art of Herbs for Health:
2. (ambitransitive) To hire a subcontractor (to complete a task): to subcontract (something).
   • So when I sub-out, it becomes a problem for the sub-cons to handle, not me. 2018, Low Sui Pheng, Sim Jia Zheng, Construction Productivity in the Multilayer Subcontracting System, page 274:
   • They will also sub out to investigators who are not insured or licensed as a PI in the case area. 2015, Richard A. Brooks, Private Investigators & The Dirty Little Secret of Subcontracting:
   • Near-synonym: farm out
   • You hate drywall, why are you doing it yourself? You shoulda subbed that out. 2011, Max Kelly, Stress Failure, page 24:
   • On the other hand, we sub out all our basement excavation work simply because we found an expert sub who could beat our costs. 1963, House & Home - Volume 24, page 122:

Forms

Coordinates

sub in

Synonyms

farm out