Meaning of substitute In English

• 0 to use something or someone instead of another thing or person:

  • You can substitute oil for butter in this recipe.

  • Dayton was substituted for Williams in the second half of the game.

  • Gas-fired power stations will substitute for less efficient coal-fired equipment.

• 1 a thing or person that is used instead of another thing or person:

  • Tofu can be used as a meat substitute in vegetarian recipes.

  • Vitamins should not be used as a substitute for a healthy diet.

  • Johnson came on as a substitute towards the end of the game.

  • The manager brought on another substitute in the final minutes of the game.

  • You can read about other countries, but there's no substitute for visiting them yourself.

• 2 to use someone or something instead of another person or thing:

  • [ T ] You can substitute oil for butter in this recipe.

  • [ I ] He was called on to substitute for the ailing star last night.

• 3 to use something different or new instead of another thing:

  • substitute sth for sth Industry must reduce fuel consumption by substituting alternative fuels for fossil fuels.

  • substitute sth with sth It takes time to substitute local brands with your own brand names.

• 4 to take the place of another person or do their job for a period of time:

  • She was asked to substitute for the absent committee chairman.

• 5 to do the same job as another thing or take its place:

  • The government expects natural gas to substitute for oil exports in the future.

  • Many dot.com companies have learnt that technology can never substitute for customer service.

• 6 something different or new that is used instead of another thing:

  • (as) a substitute for sth We are looking at the possibility of using foreign production as a substitute for exports to foreign markets.

  • cheap/good/poor substitutes Cheaper substitutes displaced the product from the world market.

  • egg/fat/meat substitutes

  • Early warning of a layoff is no substitute for a job.

• 7 someone who takes the place of another person or does their job for a period of time:

  • a substitute for sb Fixed-term contract workers and agency workers are not always direct substitutes for one another.

• 8 nothing else is as good as the stated thing or action:

  • In this industry, there's no substitute for experience.