backfill

[bak-fil]

noun

1. material used for refilling an excavation.

verb (used with object)

1. to refill (an excavation).

2. to make up for a loss or shortfall of supplies or funds.

   It is illegal to backfill the state budget with federal emergency funds.

3. to fill (a recently vacated position), often with an internal candidate or temp.

backfill

/ ˈbækˌfɪl /

verb

1. (tr) to refill an excavated trench, esp (in archaeology) at the end of an investigation

noun

1. the soil used to do this

Word History and Origins

Origin of backfill¹

First recorded in 1950–55; back ² + fill

Example Sentences

The BLS and other statistical agencies could try to backfill and make some educated guesses, but it’s no panacea.

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“It’ll be a balance of tech and human, but what it’s not is ‘Let’s just take a bunch of people out and see if we can backfill with AI,’” Grady said.

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At Intuit, every time a job comes open, managers are pushed to justify why they need to backfill it, said Sandeep Aujla, the company’s chief financial officer.

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“That typical behavior that settles in—and we’re all guilty of it—is, historically, if someone leaves, if Jane Doe leaves, I’ve got to backfill Jane,” Aujla said in an interview.

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“But, yeah, we’re going through the process of trying to backfill his spot on the roster.”

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