What is meant by a subclass in object-oriented programming?

In object-oriented programming, a subclass is a class that inherits properties and methods from another class — the superclass (or base class). A subclass can extend or override the behavior of the superclass.

Example in Python:

class Animal:
    def speak(self):
        print("Animal makes a sound")

class Dog(Animal):  # Dog is a subclass of Animal
    def speak(self):
        print("Woof")

my_pet = Dog()
my_pet.speak()  # Outputs: Woof

Here, Dog inherits from Animal and overrides the speak method. Thus, a subclass allows creating more specialized versions of the base class.