stop-gap

Noun

stopgap (plural stopgaps)

1. (rare) That which stops up or fills a gap or hole.
   • [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.1872, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], chapter XLI, in Middlemarch […], volume II, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, book IV, page 347

   Synonyms:

   fillgap

2. (figuratively) Something spoken to fill up an uncomfortable pause in speech; a filled pause or filler.
3. (figuratively) 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.
   • The small company used their old product with a few kludged enhancements as a stopgap until they could develop a new product.

   Synonyms:

   band-aid, bandaid, quick fix, band-aid solution, bodge, cludge, fiddle, hack, hack job, jugaad

   1. (figuratively, specifically) A person appointed or hired to fill a position temporarily until a permanent appointment or hire can be made; a temp.
      • 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.1903, P. G. Wodehouse, “Chapter 4”, in A Prefect's Uncle

See all 9 meanings of stopgap