subclass

Plural: subclasses

Noun

• (biology) a taxonomic category below a class and above an order
• A secondary class within a main class.
• A rank directly below class.
• An object class derived from another class (its superclass) from which it inherits a base set of properties and methods.

Verb

Verb Forms: subclassed, subclassing, subclasses

• To categorize or place into a subdivision of a larger class.
• (in object-oriented programming) To create a subclass of (some class).
• To cause (an object) to act as an instance of a subclass (by creating the desired subclass and instantiating an object of this subclass).

Examples

• I subclassed the Button class to create a more specialised FancyButton class for my user interface.
• The new Scrabble dictionary will SUBCLASS many words, adding nuance to definitions.

Synonyms

child class, derived class, heir class, subset

Antonyms

superclass, superset, unsubclass

Anagrams of subclass