# stopgap
## English
### Etymology

The noun is derived from stop (“to close or block (an opening)”) +‎ gap, from the phrase to stop a gap. The adjective is from an attributive use of the noun, and the verb is derived from the noun.

### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈstɒpɡæp/
* (General American) IPA: /ˈstɑpˌɡæp/
* Audio (General American):(file)
* Hyphenation: stop‧gap

### Noun

stopgap (plural stopgaps)
* (rare) That which stops up or fills a gap or hole.
    Synonym: fillgap
** 1872, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], chapter XLI, in Middlemarch […], volume II, Edinburgh, London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, book IV, page 347:[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.
* (figuratively)
** Something spoken to fill up an uncomfortable pause in speech; a filled pause or filler.
** A 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.
    Synonyms: band-aid, bandaid, quick fix; see also Thesaurus:workaround
    The small company used their old product with a few kludged enhancements as a stopgap until they could develop a new product.
*** 1897, Thomas Anstey Guthrie, “Chapter 4”, in Baboo Hurry Bungsho Jabberjee, B.A.: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.
*** 2019 October 23, Pip Dunn, “The Next King of Scotland”, in Rail, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 50: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.
*** (specifically) A person appointed or hired to fill a position temporarily until a permanent appointment or hire can be made; a temp.
**** 1903, P. G. Wodehouse, “Chapter 4”, in A Prefect's Uncle: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.

#### Alternative forms

* stop-gap (more common in the UK)
* stuff gap (rare)

#### Translations
### Adjective

stopgap (not comparable)
* Short-term; temporary.
    They put a stopgap solution in place, but need something more permanent.
* Filling a gap or pause. (Can we add an example for this sense?)

#### Alternative forms

* stop-gap (more common in the UK)

#### Synonyms

* interim

#### See also

* tideover
* Thesaurus:impromptu

### Verb

stopgap (third-person singular simple present stopgaps, present participle stopgapping, simple past and past participle stopgapped)
* (transitive) To stop up or fill (a physical gap or hole, or a hiatus).
* (intransitive) To use something as a short-term fix or temporary measure until a better alternative can be obtained.
** (specifically) To work at a position temporarily until a permanent appointment or hire is made.

#### Alternative forms

* stop-gap (more common in the UK)

#### See also

(provide an interim solution):
* hold over
* tide over

### References

* ↑ “stopgap, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, December 2020; “stopgap, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
* ↑ “stopgap, v.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2022.

### Anagrams

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