: someone or something that fills in
She performed well as the emergency fill-in.
filled in; filling in; fills in
1
: to enrich (something, such as a design) with detail
2
: to give necessary or recently acquired information to
I'll fill you in
: to fill a vacancy usually temporarily
Interns filled in for regular staffers.
Examples of fill-in in a Sentence
Noun
I'm just a fill-in, so I have no idea where office supplies are kept
Verb
my friend quickly filled me in on the portion of the movie that I had missed
she's only filling in while the regular secretary is on vacation
Recent Examples on the Web
Greg Evans, Deadline, 2 Apr. 2026
In the coming weeks, the NFL intends to begin hiring and training replacement officials, hoping to avoid a situation similar to 2012 when a stalemate led to a 110-day lockout and fill-in officials, many unprepared, were pressed into action.
—Los Angeles Times, 31 Mar. 2026
Tara Lynch, CBS News, 29 Mar. 2026
On the con side, the B’s hope to fill in some roster spots with younger players over the next years with James Hagens, Will Zellers, Dean Letourneau and/or Matt Poitras and signing a veteran like Arvidsson could create a log-jam.
—Steve Conroy, Boston Herald, 28 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for fill-in
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Noun
Griffin’s empty spot at the table has been filled by a string of conservative-leaning guest hosts such as Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Abby Huntsman (both previous View regulars), Savannah Chrisley, Amanda Carpenter, Sheryl Underwood and this week’s fill-in Whitney Cummings.
—Greg Evans, Deadline, 2 Apr. 2026
In the coming weeks, the NFL intends to begin hiring and training replacement officials, hoping to avoid a situation similar to 2012 when a stalemate led to a 110-day lockout and fill-in officials, many unprepared, were pressed into action.
—Los Angeles Times, 31 Mar. 2026
Verb
Wait times at security checkpoints at BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport improved on Sunday as TSA continues to deal with staff shortages, and immigration agents are filling in to assist.
—Tara Lynch, CBS News, 29 Mar. 2026
On the con side, the B’s hope to fill in some roster spots with younger players over the next years with James Hagens, Will Zellers, Dean Letourneau and/or Matt Poitras and signing a veteran like Arvidsson could create a log-jam.
—Steve Conroy, Boston Herald, 28 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for fill-in
Cite this Entry
“Fill-in.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fill-in. Accessed 5 Apr. 2026.
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