stopgap
pronunciation
How to pronounce stopgap in British English:
UK [ˈstɒpgæp]
How to pronounce stopgap in American English:
US [ˈstɑpgæp]
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- Noun:
- something contrived to meet an urgent need or emergency
Word Origin
- stopgap (n.)
- also stop-gap, 1680s, from stop (v.) + gap (n.); the notion probably being of something that plugs a leak, but it may be in part from gap (n.) in a specific military sense "opening or breach in defenses by which attack may be made (1540s). Also as an adjective from 1680s.
Example
- 1. But today 's stopgap is not enough .
- 2. These issues have no place in a stopgap spending bill a few minutes from midnight .
- 3. This cliffhanger is the culmination of months of fiscal bickering , punctuated by stopgap continuing resolutions .
- 4. A more fundamental concern is that , even extended to larger companies , credit guarantees will prove no more than a stopgap .
- 5. For many young people , free online classified services such as craigslist are facilitating the search for stopgap jobs .