stopgap

(redirected from stopgaps)
Also found in: Thesaurus.

stop·gap

(stŏp′găp′)

An improvised substitute for something lacking; a temporary expedient.

adj.

Serving as a stopgap: a stopgap budget bill to keep the government running.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

stopgap

(ˈstɒpˌɡæp)

a. a temporary substitute for something else

b. (as modifier): a stopgap programme.

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

stop•gap

(ˈstɒpˌgæp)

n.

1. something that fills the place of something else that is lacking; temporary substitute; makeshift.

adj.

2. serving as a stopgap: a stopgap solution.

[1525–35]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Noun

stopgap - something contrived to meet an urgent need or emergency

make-do, makeshift

expedient - a means to an end; not necessarily a principled or ethical one

stopgap

noun

1. makeshift, improvisation, temporary expedient, shift, resort, substitute It is not an acceptable long term solution, just a stopgap.

adjective

1. makeshift, emergency, temporary, provisional, improvised, impromptu, rough-and-ready It was only ever intended as a stopgap solution.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

stopgap

noun

Something used temporarily or reluctantly when other means are not available:

expediency, expedient, makeshift, shift.

Translations

بَديل مُؤَقَّت لِسَد الفَراغ

zatímní náhrada

midlertidig et eller andet

Überbrückung

bouche-trou

kisegítõ megoldás

sem er settur/notaîur til bráîabirgîa

tappabuchi

nødløsning

dočasná náhrada

geçici kimse/çözüm

临时代替者或代用品

stopgap

[ˈstɒpgæp]

A. N (= thing) → recurso m provisional, expediente m; (= person) → sustituto/a m/f

B. CPD stopgap measure N → medida f provisional

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

stopgap

[ˈstɒpgæp] n

(= person) → bouche-trou m

(also stopgap measure) → mesure f bouche-trou

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

stopgap

[ˈstɒpgæp]

1. n (person) → supplente, sostituto/a temporaneo/a; (measure) → palliativo

2. adj (measures, solution) → tampone inv, sostitutivo/a

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

stop

(stop) – past tense, past participle stopped – verb

1. to (make something) cease moving, or come to rest, a halt etc. He stopped the car and got out; This train does not stop at Birmingham; He stopped to look at the map; He signalled with his hand to stop the bus.

2. to prevent from doing something. We must stop him (from) going; I was going to say something rude but stopped myself just in time.

3. to discontinue or cease eg doing something. That woman just can't stop talking; The rain has stopped; It has stopped raining.

4. to block or close. He stopped his ears with his hands when she started to shout at him.

5. to close (a hole, eg on a flute) or press down (a string on a violin etc) in order to play a particular note.

6. to stay. Will you be stopping long at the hotel?

noun

1. an act of stopping or state of being stopped. We made only two stops on our journey; Work came to a stop for the day.

2. a place for eg a bus to stop. a bus stop.

3. in punctuation, a full stop. Put a stop at the end of the sentence.

4. a device on a flute etc for covering the holes in order to vary the pitch, or knobs for bringing certain pipes into use on an organ.

5. a device, eg a wedge etc, for stopping the movement of something, or for keeping it in a fixed position. a door-stop.

ˈstoppage (-pidʒ) noun

(an) act of stopping or state or process of being stopped. The building was at last completed after many delays and stoppages.

ˈstopper noun

an object, eg a cork, that is put into the neck of a bottle, jar, hole etc to close it.

ˈstopping noun

a filling in a tooth. One of my stoppings has come out.

ˈstopcock noun

a tap and valve for controlling flow of liquid through a pipe.

ˈstopgap noun

a person or thing that fills a gap in an emergency. He was made headmaster as a stopgap till a new man could be appointed; (also adjective) stopgap arrangements.

ˈstopwatch noun

a watch with a hand that can be stopped and started, used in timing a race etc.

put a stop to

to prevent from continuing. We must put a stop to this waste.

stop at nothing

to be willing to do anything, however dishonest etc, in order to get something. He'll stop at nothing to get what he wants.

stop dead

to stop completely. I stopped dead when I saw him.

stop off

to make a halt on a journey etc. We stopped off at Edinburgh to see the castle.

stop over to make a stay of a night or more: We're planning to stop over in Amsterdam ( noun ˈstop-over)

stop up

to block. Some rubbish got into the drain and stopped it up.

Mentioned in ?

References in periodicals archive ?

Stopgaps may be found to slow the half-century-long decline but, sadly, neither farmers nor policymakers have yet devised a long-term strategy for halting it.

Just a Thought

By including the low-cost PIC10F 6-pin devices in a PCB design from the start, bugs, late changes and other stopgaps can be implemented with ease and little expense for ASICs, the board itself and for a number of other devices on the PCB.

Microchip Technology debuts industry's first 6-pin microcontrollers

To say gay proms are temporary stopgaps is to imply that when homophobia melts away, we'll all stop feeling the need to congregate with our own kind.