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See also: stop-gap

English

WOTD – 9 April 2022

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,^[1] and the verb is derived from the noun.^[2]

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈstɒpɡæp/
(General American) IPA^(key): /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)
1. Something spoken to fill up an uncomfortable pause in speech; a filled pause or filler.
2. 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.
  1. (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

that which stops up or fills a gap or hole

Dutch: stoplap (nl)
Polish: zapchajdziura (pl) f

something said to fill up an uncomfortable pause in speech — see filler

short-term fix or temporary measure used until something better can be obtained

Bulgarian: временна мярка f (vremenna mjarka)
Catalan: tapaforats m
Chinese:
Mandarin: 權宜之計 / 权宜之计 (zh) (quányízhījì)
Czech: provizorium
Dutch: lapmiddel (nl) n
Finnish: hätävara (fi)
French: bouche-trou (fr) m (person), pis-aller (fr) m, rustine (fr) f (literally “patch for an inner tube”)
German: Lückenbüßer (de) m, Lückenfüller (de) m, Lochstopfer m, Notlösung (de) f
Hungarian: sufnituning
Ido: remediacho (io)
Italian: palliativo (it) m
Japanese: 対症療法 (ja), 對症療法 (たいしょうりょうほう, taishō ryōhō)
Latvian: tapa (lv) f
Polish: prowizorka (pl) f, zapchajdziura f (informal)
Spanish: paños calientes m, paliativo (es) m, parche (es) m, remiendo (es) m

person appointed or hired to fill a position temporarily until a permanent appointment or hire can be made — see temp

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

Translations

short-term; temporary — see short-term,‎ temporary

filling a gap or pause

Chinese:
Hokkien: 準數 / 准数 (chún-siàu)

Mandarin: 湊數 / 凑数 (zh) (còushù)
Japanese: 姑息 (ja) (こそく, kosoku)
Russian: вре́менный (ru) (vrémennyj)

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.
1. (specifically) To work at a position temporarily until a permanent appointment or hire is made.

Alternative forms

stop-gap (more common in the UK)

Translations

to stop up or fill (a physical gap or hole, or a hiatus)

to use something as a short-term fix or temporary measure until a better alternative can be obtained

Dutch: lapzalven (nl)

to work at a position temporarily until a permanent appointment or hire is made

References

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

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