Substitute vs. Equivalent — What's the Difference?
Difference Between Substitute and Equivalent
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Compare with Definitions
Substitute
One that takes the place of another
Finding substitutes for coal.
Came in as a substitute at the end of the game.
Equivalent
Equal in value, amount, function, meaning, etc.
One unit is equivalent to one glass of wine
Substitute
(Grammar) A word or construction used in place of another word, phrase, or clause.
Equivalent
A person or thing that is equal to or corresponds with another in value, amount, function, meaning, etc.
The French equivalent of the Bank of England
Substitute
To put or use (a person or thing) in place of another
Substituted plastic for steel to reduce the weight.
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Equivalent
The mass of a particular substance that can combine with or displace one gram of hydrogen or eight grams of oxygen, used in expressing combining powers, especially of elements.
Substitute
Usage Problem To replace
Substituted the worn-out couch with a new one.
Original artworks that were substituted by fakes.
Equivalent
Equal, as in value, force, or meaning.
Substitute
To take the place of another
"Only art can substitute for nature" (Leonard Bernstein).
Equivalent
Having similar or identical effects.
Substitute
(transitive) To use in place of something else, with the same function.
I had no shallots so I substituted onion.
Equivalent
Being essentially equal, all things considered
A wish that was equivalent to a command.
Substitute
To use X in place of Y.
I had to substitute new parts for the old ones.
Equivalent
Capable of being put into a one-to-one relationship. Used of two sets.
Substitute
To use Y in place of X; to replace X with Y.
I had to substitute old parts with the new ones.
Equivalent
Having virtually identical or corresponding parts.
Substitute
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
Equivalent
Of or relating to corresponding elements under an equivalence relation.
Substitute
(intransitive) To serve as a replacement (for someone or something).
Equivalent
(Chemistry) Having the same ability to combine.
Substitute
A replacement or stand-in for something that achieves a similar result or purpose.
Equivalent
(Logic) Having equivalence
Equivalent propositions.
Substitute
(sports) A player who is available to replace another if the need arises, and who may or may not actually do so.
Equivalent
Something that is essentially equal to another
"The hand is not the biological equivalent of a hammer or a screwdriver.
The hand is a multipurpose tool like a Swiss Army knife" (Jonathan Gottschall).
Substitute
(historical) One who enlists for military service in the place of a conscript.
Equivalent
(Chemistry) Equivalent weight.
Substitute
(economics) substitute good
Equivalent
Similar or identical in value, meaning or effect; virtually equal.
To burn calories, a thirty-minute jog is equivalent to a couple of hamburgers.
Substitute
One who, or that which, is substituted or put in the place of another; one who acts for another; that which stands in lieu of something else
Hast thou not made me here thy substitute?
Ladies [in Shakespeare's age] . . . wore masks as the sole substitute known to our ancestors for the modern parasol.
Equivalent
(mathematics) Of two sets, having a one-to-one correspondence.
Substitute
To put in the place of another person or thing; to exchange.
Some few verses are inserted or substituted in the room of others.
Equivalent
(mathematics) Relating to the corresponding elements of an equivalence relation.
Substitute
A person or thing that takes or can take the place of another
Equivalent
(chemistry) Having the equal ability to combine.
Substitute
An athlete who plays only when another member of the team drops out
Equivalent
(cartography) Of a map, equal-area.
Substitute
Someone who takes the place of another (as when things get dangerous or difficult);
The star had a stand-in for dangerous scenes
We need extra employees for summer fill-ins
Equivalent
(geometry) Equal in measure but not admitting of superposition; applied to magnitudes.
A square may be equivalent to a triangle.
Substitute
Put in the place of another; switch seemingly equivalent items;
The con artist replaced the original with a fake Rembrandt
Substitute regular milk with fat-free milk
Equivalent
Anything that is virtually equal to something else, or has the same value, force, etc.
Substitute
Be a substitute;
The young teacher had to substitute for the sick colleague
The skim milk substitutes for cream--we are on a strict diet
Equivalent
(chemistry) An equivalent weight.
Substitute
Act as a substitute;
She stood in for the soprano who suffered from a cold
Equivalent
(transitive) To make equivalent to; to equal.
Substitute
Being a replacement or substitute for a regular member of a team
Equivalent
Equal in worth or value, force, power, effect, import, and the like; alike in significance and value; of the same import or meaning.
For now to serve and to minister, servile and ministerial, are terms equivalent.
Substitute
Capable of substituting in any of several positions on a team;
A utility infielder
Equivalent
Equal in measure but not admitting of superposition; - applied to magnitudes; as, a square may be equivalent to a triangle.
Substitute
Artificial and inferior;
Ersatz coffee
Substitute coffee
Equivalent
Contemporaneous in origin; as, the equivalent strata of different countries.
Equivalent
Something equivalent; that which is equal in value, worth, weight, or force; as, to offer an equivalent for damage done.
He owned that, if the Test Act were repealed, the Protestants were entitled to some equivalent. . . . During some weeks the word equivalent, then lately imported from France, was in the mouths of all the coffeehouse orators.
Equivalent
That comparative quantity by weight of an element which possesses the same chemical value as other elements, as determined by actual experiment and reference to the same standard. Specifically: (a) The comparative proportions by which one element replaces another in any particular compound; thus, as zinc replaces hydrogen in hydrochloric acid, their equivalents are 32.5 and 1. (b) The combining proportion by weight of a substance, or the number expressing this proportion, in any particular compound; as, the equivalents of hydrogen and oxygen in water are respectively 1 and 8, and in hydric dioxide 1 and 16.
Equivalent
A combining unit, whether an atom, a radical, or a molecule; as, in acid salt two or more equivalents of acid unite with one or more equivalents of base.
Equivalent
To make the equivalent to; to equal; equivalence.
Equivalent
A person or thing equal to another in value or measure or force or effect or significance etc;
Send two dollars or the equivalent in stamps
Equivalent
The atomic weight of an element that has the same combining capacity as a given weight of another element; the standard is 8 for oxygen
Equivalent
Equal in amount or value;
Like amounts
Equivalent amounts
The same amount
Gave one six blows and the other a like number
An equal number
The same number
Equivalent
Being essentially equal to something;
It was as good as gold
A wish that was equivalent to a command
His statement was tantamount to an admission of guilt
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