subordinate
sub|or|di|nate (subordinates subordinating subordinated)
The noun and adjective are pronounced /səb'ɔːrdɪnət/ The verb is pronounced /səb'ɔːrdɪneɪt/
1 [N-COUNT] oft poss N
If someone is your subordinate, they have a less important position than you in the organization that you both work for.
Haig tended not to seek guidance from subordinates...
≠ superior
2 [ADJ] oft ADJ to n
Someone who is subordinate to you has a less important position than you and has to obey you.
Sixty of his subordinate officers followed his example...
Women were regarded as subordinate to free men.
≠ superior
3 [ADJ] oft ADJ to n
Something that is subordinate to something else is less important than the other thing.
It was an art in which words were subordinate to images.
4 [VERB] V n to n
If you subordinate something to another thing, you regard it or treat it as less important than the other thing.
He was both willing and able to subordinate all else to this aim.
● subordination [N-UNCOUNT] oft N of/to n
...the social subordination of women.sub|or|di|nate clause (subordinate clauses)
[N-COUNT]
A subordinate clause is a clause in a sentence which adds to or completes the information given in the main clause. It cannot usually stand alone as a sentence. Compare main clause. (TECHNICAL)
The noun and adjective are pronounced /səb'ɔːrdɪnət/ The verb is pronounced /səb'ɔːrdɪneɪt/
1 [N-COUNT] oft poss N
If someone is your subordinate, they have a less important position than you in the organization that you both work for.
Haig tended not to seek guidance from subordinates...
≠ superior
2 [ADJ] oft ADJ to n
Someone who is subordinate to you has a less important position than you and has to obey you.
Sixty of his subordinate officers followed his example...
Women were regarded as subordinate to free men.
≠ superior
3 [ADJ] oft ADJ to n
Something that is subordinate to something else is less important than the other thing.
It was an art in which words were subordinate to images.
4 [VERB] V n to n
If you subordinate something to another thing, you regard it or treat it as less important than the other thing.
He was both willing and able to subordinate all else to this aim.
● subordination [N-UNCOUNT] oft N of/to n
...the social subordination of women.sub|or|di|nate clause (subordinate clauses)
[N-COUNT]
A subordinate clause is a clause in a sentence which adds to or completes the information given in the main clause. It cannot usually stand alone as a sentence. Compare main clause. (TECHNICAL)