stopgap
[stop-gap]
- something that fills the place of something else that is lacking; temporary substitute; makeshift: Candles are a stopgap when the electricity fails.
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- makeshift: This is only a stopgap solution.
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Origin of stopgap
First recorded in 1525–35; noun, adj. use of verb phrase stop a gap
Synonyms
See more synonyms for stopgap on Thesaurus.com2. improvised, temporary, substitute, impromptu.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for stopgap
Contemporary Examples
He has left millions of homeowners to fend for themselves, and even his health care plan is really only a stopgap measure.
His “strategists” have concocted a series of stopgap tactics.
As for Fattorosi of XPays, he sees the lawsuits as only a stopgap.
But even Joffe admits that a better radar and rapid reaction system is only a partial, stopgap solution.
Historical Examples
She was going as a stopgap to speak at a large meeting to oblige Angelica.
The Beth BookSarah Grand
The stopgap was such that it must remain as it was; and every further effort was useless.
Toilers of the SeaVictor Hugo
Because Brownlee knows why I'm looking for a cure to replace the stopgap.
Nor Iron Bars a Cage....Gordon Randall Garrett
But he knew that they were only a stopgap, only a temporarily shoring of a constantly-eroding dam.
The Dueling MachineBenjamin William Bova
It's a stopgap effort, just to keep things moving until Project Sea-Dredge starts functioning.
The Hunted HeroesRobert Silverberg
stopgap
- a temporary substitute for something else
- (as modifier)a stopgap programme
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for stopgap
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper