stopgap

resource, resort, expedient, shift, makeshift, stopgap mean something one turns to in the absence of the usual means or source of supply. resource and resort apply to anything one falls back upon.

• • exhausted all of their resources
• • a last resort

expedient may apply to any device or contrivance used when the usual one is not at hand or not possible.

• • a flimsy expedient

shift implies a tentative or temporary imperfect expedient.

• • desperate shifts to stave off foreclosure

makeshift implies an inferior expedient adopted because of urgent need or allowed through indifference.

• • old equipment employed as a makeshift

stopgap applies to something used temporarily as an emergency measure.

• • a new law intended only as a stopgap