Word.ws English Dictionary

subbing

subbing is the present participle and gerund of sub.

Meaning of sub

Verb

sub (third-person singular simple present subs, present participle subbing, simple past and past participle subbed)

  1. (US, informal) To substitute for.
  2. (US, informal) To work as a substitute teacher, especially in primary and secondary education.
  3. (UK, informal) 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.
  4. (UK, informal, often, uncommon) To bring on (a player) as a substitute.
    • He was subbed on half way through the second half, and scored within minutes.
  5. (UK) To perform the work of a subeditor or copy editor; to subedit.
  6. (Internet, slang, transitive) To subtitle (usually a film or television program).

See all 12 meanings of sub

Noun

subbing (plural subbings)

  1. A copy editing process.
    • With the best will in the world, excluding any assumption that the Berlin paper would wish to make Einstein look ridiculous, or that the Times man overemphasized any anti Americanism, these choppings, subbings, and translations inevitably did more than alter the balance of the original.1971, Ronald Clark, Einstein: The Life and Times
    • Do not expect to sub (or copy edit, as the Americans call it) your article to perfection in one go - I will do three or four subbings before I'm convinced an article is as perfect as I can get it. But when you've done all you can - yes, send it out!2007, Diana Cambridge, How to Write for Magazines...in One Weekend, page 69

Forms of subbing

pluralsubbings

Phrases with subbing

Questions about subbing

What does subbing mean?
Subbing means a copy editing process.
What is subbing the present participle and gerund of?
Subbing is the present participle and gerund of sub.
What part of speech is subbing?
Subbing is a noun.
What is the plural of subbing?
The plural of subbing is subbings.

Words near subbing in the dictionary

  1. subbifid
  2. subbilobate
  3. subbilocular
  4. subbimodule
  5. subbimodules
  6. subbing
  7. subbing in
  8. subbing out
  9. subbings
  10. subbituminous
  11. subblock

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: subbing (page history and authors); sub (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “subbing.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/subbing. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.