understudying

verb

present participle of understudy
as in substituting

Related Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for understudying
  1. substituting
  2. standing in
  3. subbing
  4. filling in
  5. taking over
  6. pinch-hitting
  7. stepping in
  8. covering
Verb
  • That difference means substituting one for the other can change a dish’s character considerably.
    — Jessica Safavimehr, Southern Living, 24 Sep. 2026
  • The work demonstrates a way to combine a renewable waste material with nanoscale reinforcement rather than simply substituting one material for another.
    — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of substituting
Verb
  • Long decided to show Carl standing in a spotlight, wearing white boxers with red hearts, shielding Princess Donut.
    — Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 6 Oct. 2026
  • The film will shoot on location in New York City (for sequences chronicling her arrival by ship and her Broadway musicals), the Brazilian city of Maricá (standing in for Los Angeles) and Rio.
    — Marcelo Cajueiro, Variety, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of standing in
Verb
  • Bagent was 25 for 34 while subbing for Caleb Williams, who missed his second straight game because of a right hamstring injury.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 4 Oct. 2026
  • Within 30 seconds of subbing on, Suarez raced past multiple defenders and placed it in the side-netting for the 3-0 lead in the 81st minute.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 17 Sep. 2026
Definition of subbing
Verb
  • At the age of sixteen, Renée was able to reunite with her parents in the United States and found employment as a comics artist, filling in for the many male artists drafted into service.
    — Gaby Iori October 7, Literary Hub, 7 Oct. 2026
  • Raster graphics, on the other hand, create pictures by filling in a grid of tiny pixels, an approach that was less suited to drawing the crisp lines needed to create this kind of perspective.
    — Mark J. P. Wolf, The Conversation, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of filling in
Verb
  • Soon after taking over the presidency, Bolsonaro cut the budgets for the National Cinema Agency (ANCINE) and the Audiovisual Sector Fund (FSA) by nearly 43%.
    — Rafa Sales Ross, Variety, 7 Oct. 2026
  • The county’s options for the facility range from holding Discovery Place in default and taking over the nature museum to accepting Discovery Place’s terms and giving the organization decades to repay the debt, staff said.
    — Mary Ramsey, Charlotte Observer, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of taking over
Verb
  • The Yankees will have to decide whether Stanton did enough to warrant a roster spot in the Wild Card; he would likely be restricted to pinch-hitting.
    — Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 28 Sep. 2026
  • Rookie Josue De Paula, up for a pinch-hitting role, is set to join the team Tuesday, Roberts said.
    — Maddie Lee, Los Angeles Times, 27 Sep. 2026
Definition of pinch-hitting
Verb
  • While stepping in as press secretary, Vance responded to a question from the Washington Examiner about 2028 hopefuls, such as Cruz and War Secretary Pete Hegseth, by telling Republicans to focus on the midterm elections.
    — Claire Carter, The Washington Examiner, 9 Sep. 2026
  • Whenever either of them is absent, Estevao is very capable of stepping in.
    — Liam Twomey, New York Times, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of stepping in
Verb
  • There, trenches, benches, niches and other architectural devices are carved into the floor and walls—adding to the drama of the paintings covering the walls.
    — Jacqueline Ortoleva, Scientific American, 3 Oct. 2026
  • In September, commission staff audited and accepted an engineering report covering a modular construction technique tested at Purdue University.
    — Aman Tripathi, Interesting Engineering, 3 Oct. 2026
Definition of covering
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

understudy
understudying
undersupplies
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Understudying.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/understudying. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

The Words of the Week - Oct. 9

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
a cup of tea and a golf ball on tee side by side
Quiz: Sounds Like... Choose the word that sounds like it fits the clue...
See All