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Sports & Fitness vocabulary · Coaching & Teams

Substitute

Meaning in sports & fitness, with examples

/ˈsʌbstɪtut/nounCore term

In sports & fitness, substitute means: A player who starts a match on the bench and can come on to replace a teammate during the game.

In Turkish: yedek oyuncu, yedek

How it is used

Used in football, basketball, rugby and other team sports; informally a sub. A substitute comes on or is brought on, and the coach makes a substitution. As a verb: "He was substituted in the 70th minute."

Example sentences

  1. She came on as a substitute and scored the winner.

  2. The coach used all five substitutes in the second half.

Common collocations

  • come on as a substitute
  • substitutes' bench
  • make a substitution
  • late substitute
  • teammateA person who plays or competes in the same team as you, sharing training, matches and the team's results.
  • coachA person who trains athletes or a team, plans their practice, teaches technique and tactics and often makes decisions during competition.
  • captainThe player chosen to lead a team on the field, who often speaks to the referee, takes part in the coin toss and motivates teammates.
  • matchA sports competition between two players or teams, such as a game of football, tennis or boxing, that ends with a result.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Coaching & Teams

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