Word.ws English Dictionary

polyfill

polyfill noun: a synthetic textile used for bulk or insulation, e.g., in stuffed animals or coats.

Noun (1)

polyfill (uncountable)

  1. A synthetic textile used for bulk or insulation, e.g., in stuffed animals or coats.
    • The racks include blouses and sweaters and some polyfill vests, with corduroy coats and outerwear due to be in stock as the weather cools.1981 October 11, Jeanne Clare Feron, “Careful Shopper; Elmsford Warehouse A Weekend Store”, in New York Times, page 16
    • The first article, designated a troll, is 12 inches tall, composed of polyfill with a cotton knit shell.1989 June 14, John Durant, “Classification of stuffed doll and stuffed clown rattle”, in Commodity Classification Under the Harmonized System, volume 1, number 4, United States Customs Service, page...

Noun (2)

polyfill (uncountable)

  1. An algorithm to fill a polygon with a particular color.
    • In the process i have come up with the following algorithm , and i wonder if it is a good one (i.e. fast), and also if anyone can give me tips on any other fast polyfill algoritm^([sic]).1992 February 3, Paal K Holmberg, “question on polyfill algorithm”, in comp.graphics (Usenet), message-ID <1992Feb3.120657.7173@alf.uib.no>

Noun (3)

polyfill (plural polyfills)

  1. (web development) A plugin that provides the functionality of newer browsers to older versions.
    • A common way to group elements for collective use by JavaScript is to assign them the same (CSS) class and then to use getElementsByClassName(). Possibly with a polyfill for the "certain old browser".2016 April 17, Stefan Weiss, “A few problems with looping thru a set of elements with the same "name" specifier.”, in comp.lang.javascript (Usenet), message-ID <nf03hk$bll$1@news.albasani.net>

Verb

polyfill (third-person singular simple present polyfills, present participle polyfilling, simple past and past participle polyfilled)

  1. (intransitive, transitive, web development) To create or apply a polyfill.
    • See the FAQ. Or polyfill String.prototype.trim() if necessary and just call .trim().2017 January 17, Thomas 'PointedEars' Lahn, “form sending undefined”, in comp.lang.javascript (Usenet), message-ID <1645793.CQOukoFCf9@PointedEars.de>

Forms of polyfill

Noun
pluralpolyfills
Verb
third-person singular presentpolyfills
present participlepolyfilling
past participlepolyfilled
pastpolyfilled

Origin of polyfill

Blend of polyester + fill.

Blend of polygon + fill.

Named with reference to the spackling paste Polyfilla.

Questions about polyfill

What does polyfill mean?
Polyfill means a synthetic textile used for bulk or insulation, e.g., in stuffed animals or coats.
What part of speech is polyfill?
Polyfill can be a noun or a verb.
What is the plural of polyfill?
The plural of polyfill is polyfills.

Words near polyfill in the dictionary

  1. polyferredoxin
  2. polyferredoxins
  3. polyfidelitous
  4. polyfidelity
  5. polyfilament
  6. polyfill
  7. Polyfilla
  8. polyfilled
  9. polyfilling
  10. polyfills
  11. polyflavonoid

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: polyfill (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “polyfill.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/polyfill. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.