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
  • As of the publishing of this review, CPU teams are allowing guys to simply smoke themselves rather than properly substituting.
    — Brian Mazique, Forbes.com, 11 Aug. 2026
  • At the same time, these platforms aren’t substituting for traditional employment.
    — Jacob Lederman, The Conversation, 7 Aug. 2026
Definition of substituting
Verb
  • Growth in Asia was spurred by core markets like China, up 40% year-on-year and standing in contrast to the rest of the industry, where the market dragged on quarterly results.
    — Ella Graveney, Vogue, 6 Aug. 2026
  • Well Cottage takes its name from the old well still standing in the front garden of this three-bedroom house in the beautiful village of Ramsden.
    — Katharine Sohn, Architectural Digest, 6 Aug. 2026
Definition of standing in
Verb
  • Messi returned to his native Argentina over the weekend, missing Miami's 2-1 loss to Monterrey on Saturday, but was dressed and on the bench before subbing in for Daniel Pinter at the start of the second half.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 13 Aug. 2026
  • But when the Red Sox came out on defense in the bottom of the third Nick Sogard took Contreras’ place at first base, with Anthony Seigler subbing in at second base.
    — Mac Cerullo, Boston Herald, 2 Aug. 2026
Definition of subbing
Verb
  • I'mPhaedra Trethan, grateful to Rebecca Morin and Natalie Neysa Alund for filling in during my week off.
    — Phaedra Trethan, USA Today, 10 Aug. 2026
  • After practice, pass game coordinator Joe Bleymaier — filling in with offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy away from the team — said the plays were designed to emphasize the strengths of the team’s new personnel.
    — Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 4 Aug. 2026
Definition of filling in
Verb
  • Shapiro has been named the next Richard Rodgers dean and director of the drama division at the prestigious school, taking over starting in July 2027.
    — Caitlin Huston, HollywoodReporter, 6 Aug. 2026
  • With swangy flavors taking over the snack aisle, these findings raise some interesting questions about whether the trend could do more than just satisfy adventurous taste buds.
    — Ryan Brennan, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 31 July 2026
Definition of taking over
Verb
  • As constructed, the Dodgers don’t have an equivalent for pinch-hitting situations.
    — Maddie Lee, Los Angeles Times, 5 Aug. 2026
  • Metrics play a critical part in daily lineup construction, as well as in-game pinch-hitting changes.
    — Bernie Pleskoff, Forbes.com, 28 July 2026
Definition of pinch-hitting
Verb
  • Now, the Gates Foundation is stepping in to help fund scientific research through an historic $540 million gift to The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), an independent research organization at the University of Washington.
    — Sydney Lake, Fortune, 12 Aug. 2026
  • Even when the play returns to the familiar rhythm of Shaw provoking Dreyfuss and Scheider stepping in to restore peace, the performances keep the interactions engaging.
    — Michelle F. Solomon, Miami Herald, 29 July 2026
Definition of stepping in
Verb
  • Enterprise legal teams in 2026 routinely insist on data exit covering prompts, embeddings, and fine-tunes.
    — Jason Snyder, Forbes.com, 8 Aug. 2026
  • Conti recommends setting up a simple observation board made from cardboard and covering it with a white sheet.
    — Katie Hunt, CNN Money, 8 Aug. 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 13 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

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

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of salvo

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

'Gaslighting,' 'Woke,' 'Democracy,' and Other Top Lookups
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List
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
fridge-magnet-letters
Drop a Letter Quiz August 2026 Drop a letter from a word to make a totally diffe...
See All