stopgap

plural stopgaps · alternative stop-gap · alternative rare stuff gap

1. rareThat which stops up or fills a gap or hole.

   [A] bit of ink and paper which has long been an innocent wrapping or stop-gap may at last be laid open under the one pair of eyes which have knowledge enough to turn it into the opening of a catastrophe.

   1872, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], chapter XLI, in Middlemarch […], volume II, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, book IV, page 347

   Synonyms: fillgap

2. figurativelySomething spoken to fill up an uncomfortable pause in speech; a filled pause or filler.
3. figurativelyA short-term fix or temporary measure used until something better can be obtained; that which serves as an expedient in an emergency; a band-aid solution.

   The small company used their old product with a few kludged enhancements as a stopgap until they could develop a new product.

   2 more examples

   Perhaps I shall be told that this wintry exhibition is a mere stopgap and makeshift, until a fresh supply of bright new paintings can be procured, and that it is ultra vires to obtain such for love or money before the merry month of May.

   1897, Thomas Anstey Guthrie, “Chapter 4”, in Baboo Hurry Bungsho Jabberjee, B.A.

   It is often argued that the HST saved BR's InterCity market. It was only ever intended as a stopgap, but it proved to be a winner.

   2019 October 23, Pip Dunn, “The Next King of Scotland”, in Rail, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 50

   Synonyms: band-aid, bandaid, quick fix, band-aid, band-aid solution, bodge, cludge, fiddle

   1. figurativelyspecificallyA person appointed or hired to fill a position temporarily until a permanent appointment or hire can be made; a temp.

      As witness the following. Mr Strudwick, the regular master of the form, happened on one occasion to be away for a couple of days, and a stop-gap was put in in his place. The name of the stop-gap was Mr Somerville Smith. He and Farnie exchanged an unspoken declaration of war almost immediately.

      1903, P. G. Wodehouse, “Chapter 4”, in A Prefect's Uncle

      Synonyms: band-aid, bandaid, quick fix, band-aid, band-aid solution, bodge, cludge, fiddle

alternative stop-gap

1. not comparableShort-term; temporary.

   They put a stopgap solution in place, but need something more permanent.

2. not comparableFilling a gap or pause.

present singular third person stopgaps · participle present stopgapping · participle past stopgapped · past stopgapped · alternative stop-gap

1. transitiveTo stop up or fill (a physical gap or hole, or a hiatus).
2. intransitiveTo use something as a short-term fix or temporary measure until a better alternative can be obtained.
   1. intransitivespecificallyTo work at a position temporarily until a permanent appointment or hire is made.