SUBSTITUTE


Meaning of SUBSTITUTE in English

(~s, substituting, ~d)

Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English.

1.

If you ~ one thing for another, or if one thing ~s for another, it takes the place or performs the function of the other thing.

They were substituting violence for dialogue...

You could always ~ a low-fat soft cheese...

Would phone conversations ~ for cosy chats over lunch or in the pub after work?...

He was substituting for the injured William Wales.

VERB: V n for n, V n, V for n, V for n

substitution (substitutions)

In my experience a straight substitution of carob for chocolate doesn’t work...

N-VAR: usu with supp, oft N of n

2.

A ~ is something that you have or use instead of something else.

...tests on humans to find a blood ~ made from animal blood.

N-COUNT: oft N for n

3.

If you say that one thing is no ~ for another, you mean that it does not have certain desirable features that the other thing has, and is therefore unsatisfactory. If you say that there is no ~ for something, you mean that it is the only thing which is really satisfactory.

The printed word is no ~ for personal discussion with a great thinker...

There is no ~ for practical experience.

N-COUNT: with neg, usu sing, N for n

4.

In team games such as football, a ~ is a player who is brought into a match to replace another player.

Coming on as a ~, he scored four crucial goals for Cameroon.

N-COUNT

Collins COBUILD.      Толковый словарь английского языка для изучающих язык Коллинз COBUILD (международная база данных языков Бирмингемского университета) .