What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Substitute vs Stead - What's the difference?

substitute | stead |

As verbs the difference between substitute and stead

is that substitute is to use in place of something else, with the same function while stead is to help; to support; to benefit; to assist.

As nouns the difference between substitute and stead

is that substitute is a replacement or stand-in for something that achieves a similar result or purpose while stead is (label) a place, or spot, in general.

substitute

English

Verb

(substitut)
  • To use in place of something else, with the same function.
  • I had no shallots so I substituted onion.
  • In the phrase "substitute X for Y", to use X in place of Y. With increasing frequency used in the semantically opposite sense (see the OED's notes).
  • I had to substitute new parts for the old ones.
  • In the phrase "substitute X with/by Y", to use Y in place of X; to replace X with Y
  • I had to substitute old parts with the new ones. (This usage was formerly proscribed.)
  • (sports) To remove (a player) from the field of play and bring on another in his place.
  • He was playing poorly and was substituted after twenty minutes
  • * {{quote-news
  • , year=2011 , date=April 11 , author=Phil McNulty , title=Liverpool 3 - 0 Man City , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=Mario Balotelli replaced Tevez but his contribution was so negligible that he suffered the indignity of being substituted himself as time ran out, a development that encapsulated a wretched 90 minutes for City and boss Roberto Mancini. }}
  • To serve as a replacement (for someone or something)
  • * 1987 , , Essays in Economics, Vol. 2 , p. 75
  • Accumulation of wealth by this route may substitute for personal saving.

    Usage notes

    The verb "to substitute" can be used transitively in two opposite ways. "To substitute X" may mean either "use X in place of something else" (as in definitions 1 and 2), or "use something else in place of X" (as in definitions 3 and 4). The latter use is more recent, but it is widespread and now generally accepted (see the COED's note on the matter). However, if the indirect object (the "something else") is omitted, the preposition is also omitted, and the reader or hearer cannot tell which sense is meant: * "Substitute butter for olive oil" = Use butter instead of olive oil * "Substitute olive oil for butter" = Use olive oil instead of butter * "Substitute butter" = ??? * "Substitute olive oil" = ???

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A replacement or stand-in for something that achieves a similar result or purpose.
  • * De Quincey
  • Ladies [in Shakespeare's age] wore masks as the sole substitute known to our ancestors for the modern parasol.
  • (sports) A player who is available to replace another if the need arises, and who may or may not actually do so.
  • * {{quote-news
  • , year=2011 , date=November 3 , author=David Ornstein , title=Macc Tel-Aviv 1 - 2 Stoke , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=Dean Whitehead opened the scoring shortly after the break with a low finish and substitute Peter Crouch sealed the win with a tap-in.}}
  • (historical) One who enlists for military service in the place of a conscript.
  • Synonyms

    * See also

    stead

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (label) A place, or spot, in general.
  • *1590 , Edmund Spenser, The Faery Queene , II:
  • *:For he ne wonneth in one certaine stead , / But restlesse walketh all the world around.
  • (label) A place where a person normally rests; a seat.
  • *1633 , P. Fletcher, Purple Island :
  • *:There now the hart, fearlesse of greyhound, feeds, / And loving pelican in safety breeds; / There shrieking satyres fill the people's emptie steads .
  • (label) A specific place or point on a body or other surface.
  • *, Bk.VII:
  • *:Thus they fought two houres& in many stedys they were wounded.
  • (label) An inhabited place; a settlement, city, town etc.
  • (label) An estate, a property with its grounds; a farm.
  • *1889 , H. Rider Haggard, Allan's Wife :
  • *:But of course I could not do this by myself, so I took a Hottentot—a very clever man when he was not drunk—who lived on the stead , into my confidence.
  • (label) The frame on which a bed is laid; a bedstead.
  • *(John Dryden) (1631-1700)
  • *:The genial bed / Sallow the feet, the borders, and the stead .
  • *1818 , Jane Austen, Persuasion :
  • *:She was so wretched and so vehement, complained so much of injustice in being expected to go away instead of Anne; Anne, who was nothing to Louisa, while she was her sister, and had the best right to stay in Henrietta's stead !
  • *2011 , "Kin selection", The Economist , 31 March:
  • *:Had Daniel Ortega not got himself illegally on to this year’s ballot to seek a third term, his wife might have run in his stead .
  • Figuratively, an emotional or circumstantial "place" having specified advantages, qualities etc. (now only in phrases).
  • *2010 , Dan van der Vat, The Guardian , 19 September:
  • *:Though small and delicate-looking, she gave an impression of intense earnestness and latent toughness, qualities that stood her in good stead when she dared to challenge the most intrusive communist society in eastern Europe.
  • Derived terms

    * bedstead * homestead * in good stead * in one's stead * instead * sunstead * workstead

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To help; to support; to benefit; to assist.
  • * 1610 , , act 1 scene 2
  • Some food we had and some fresh water that / A noble Neapolitan, Gonzalo, / Out of his charity,—who being then appointed / Master of this design,—did give us, with / Rich garments, linens, stuffs, and necessaries, / Which since have steaded much: [...]
  • To fill place of.
  • Anagrams

    * (l), (l), (l), (l), (l)