Origin: Latin prefix sub-
Subcontract has 5 different meanings across 2 categories:
a contract assigning to another party some obligations of a prior contract
"The construction firm subcontracted the electrical wiring portion of their building project to a specialized team after signing the main agreement with the developer."
A portion of a contracted project that is contracted out in turn.
"The general contractor awarded the electrical work to a specialist firm as a subcontract after securing the main construction agreement."
arranged for contracted work to be done by others
"The construction manager had to subcontract the electrical wiring because his team was already overwhelmed with framing duties."
work under a subcontract; engage in a subcontract
"The general contractor hired us to subcontract the electrical wiring for the new office building."
To contract out portions of a larger contracted project.
"The construction firm decided to subcontract the electrical wiring portion of the building renovation to a specialized team while they managed the framing and plumbing themselves."