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 town is using the money to backfill lost tax revenue.

From Los Angeles Times

The Moody’s Analytics-led report, for example, calculated a national shortage of roughly 2 million units by adding together both the number of new units needed to raise the overall vacancy rate and the homes needed to backfill their measure of “pent up” demand.

From Los Angeles Times

Sable said it “continues to lawfully work with all state and federal agencies” toward restarting pipeline operations, including efforts “to align interpretations in the handling of backfill soil during the repair and maintenance process.”

From Los Angeles Times

Salesforce, which is among the tech companies that have slashed their workforces this year while doubling down on AI investments, said that the number of support cases the company handled declined and that it no longer needed to backfill support engineer roles because of efficiency gains from using its AI agent platform.

From Los Angeles Times

But it’s unclear where money to backfill the losses would come from, as the state grapples with declining finances and federal funding cuts.

From Los Angeles Times