subcontractor
18
4.4
- noun
- /ˌsʌb.kənˈtræktər/
- Specialized
- The construction firm hired a subcontractor to handle the electrical work on their latest project.
- contractors and subcontractors
- hire a subcontractor
- local subcontractors
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Watch on YouTubeHe has left a trail of bankrupt companies and unpaid subcontractors in his wake.
- He has left a trail of bankrupt companies and unpaid subcontractors in his wake.
- Like, you know, at the end of the day, if you are, if anyone asks you directly, if you're using subcontractors, you have to answer honestly.
- So I said I go, OK, she said before I contact my boss, right, she's really a subcontractor, but she's saying my boss.
- Obviously they still got paid, but they, they did a great job, you know, with their subcontractors what not keeping that in line.
Examples
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You got 100 guys working for you, 20 subcontractors.
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Boeing sought manufacturing partners from around the world among more than 40 countries and hundreds of subcontractors.
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You report to the subcontractor.
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The leadership was in Houston; the subcontractor was in Toronto.
Academic text (2009) -
So we're basically subcontractors for the agency.
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You're a subcontractor for the Department of National Defense.
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Did you encourage other subcontractors to cut corners?
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Many of NASA's systems projects rely on an extensive network of project teams, contractors, and subcontractors.
Academic text (2009) -
Sevenson Environmental Services of Niagara Falls, New York, oversees the composting project as a subcontractor to Montgomery Watson.
Academic text (2001) -
The 40-hour workweek is becoming less relevant as we see more subcontractors, temps, freelancers, and self-employed individuals.
Academic text (2012)
Surface Forms
Morphology
subcontractor = contractor (transparent) = sub + contract
The immediate base 'contractor' is a clear agentive formation from 'contract' + '-or' and adding 'sub-' yields the expected meaning of a secondary contractor.
Etymology
The word subcontractor comes from sub- meaning 'under' and contract meaning 'agreement', and it is related to the familiar word contractor, which means a person who does work for a job. So a subcontractor is someone hired 'under' the main contractor to do a specific part of a larger project.