as in makeshifts
a temporary replacement
the coach we have now was only hired as a stopgap until someone with more experience is found
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Recent Examples of stopgaps
Both Salisbury and Schuster see the LCS as primarily stopgaps for the Navy, likely to give way to a new generation of frigates that was announced last December.
—
Brad Lendon, CNN Money, 28 May 2026
The morning appetite is a different animal from its midday and evening counterparts; there is no growing anticipation, no gradual negotiation, no consideration of snacks or other stopgaps.
—Helen Rosner, New Yorker, 3 May 2026
What’s heightening the crisis is that stopgaps typically used to offset supply shocks have been rendered moot.
—Tess Kenny, Chicago Tribune, 9 Apr. 2026
The Sharks have long needed to upgrade on defense, but the preference should be toward finding longer-term solutions than the current stopgaps.
—Eric Stephens, New York Times, 24 Feb. 2026
At the moment, staffers at Mission Valley are relying on stopgaps like plugging a long extension cord into a nearby fire station for power.
—Blake Nelson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 5 Nov. 2025
The 29-year-old Russell and even the 33-year-old Irving are stopgaps.
—Alex Kirschenbaum, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 Oct. 2025
The agency did not answer questions about state-level stopgaps.
—Claire Heddles, Miami Herald, 24 Oct. 2025
The competing stopgaps had already failed to pass in five previous votes.
—Kevin Breuninger,erin Doherty, CNBC, 8 Oct. 2025
Brad Lendon, CNN Money, 28 May 2026
The morning appetite is a different animal from its midday and evening counterparts; there is no growing anticipation, no gradual negotiation, no consideration of snacks or other stopgaps.
—Helen Rosner, New Yorker, 3 May 2026
What’s heightening the crisis is that stopgaps typically used to offset supply shocks have been rendered moot.
—Tess Kenny, Chicago Tribune, 9 Apr. 2026
The Sharks have long needed to upgrade on defense, but the preference should be toward finding longer-term solutions than the current stopgaps.
—Eric Stephens, New York Times, 24 Feb. 2026
At the moment, staffers at Mission Valley are relying on stopgaps like plugging a long extension cord into a nearby fire station for power.
—Blake Nelson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 5 Nov. 2025
The 29-year-old Russell and even the 33-year-old Irving are stopgaps.
—Alex Kirschenbaum, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 Oct. 2025
The agency did not answer questions about state-level stopgaps.
—Claire Heddles, Miami Herald, 24 Oct. 2025
The competing stopgaps had already failed to pass in five previous votes.
—Kevin Breuninger,erin Doherty, CNBC, 8 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stopgaps
substitutes
Noun
-
This is the way authoritarianism substitutes for democracy – slowly and incrementally, until the whole system suddenly tips over.—
Robert B. Reich,
Hartford Courant,
2 June 2026
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Engineers had to come up with their own substitutes for some of the basic tools that other developers use to store code, launch websites, and set up servers.—
Bozorgmehr Sharafedin,
The Atlantic,
1 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Stopgaps.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stopgaps. Accessed 12 Jun. 2026.
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