Makeshift

Definition: Makeshift

Makeshift

Adjective

1. Done or made using whatever is available; "crossed the river on improvised bridges"; "the survivors used jury-rigged fishing gear"; "the rock served as a makeshift hammer".

Noun

1. Something contrived to meet an urgent need or emergency.

Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
 

Date "makeshift" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1833. (references)

Literature

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Synonyms: Makeshift

Dissuasion

Pretense; (untruth); put off, dust thrown in the eyes; blind; moonshine; mere pretext, shallow pretext; lame excuse, lame apology; tub to a whale; false plea, sour grapes; makeshift, shift, white lie; special pleading; (sophistry); soft sawder; (flattery).

Substitution

Subs ersatz, makeshift, temporary expedient, replacement, succedaneum; shift, pis aller, stopgap, jury rigging, jury mast, locum tenens, warming pan, dummy, scapegoat; double; changeling; quid pro quo, alternative.

Crosswords: Makeshift

Books

• Arcadia for All: The Legacy of a Makeshift Landscape (Studies in History, Planning and the Environment) (reference)

• Makeshift Family (reference)

• Makeshift Marriage (reference)

• Makeshift Marriage (Harlequin Romance) [LARGE PRINT] (reference)

• Makeshift Rocket (reference)

  (more book examples)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Makeshift skiff built for plane table mapping Project from Brunswick, GA, to Jacksonville, FL Combined Operations party of Hubert A. Paton. Credit: Coast & Geodetic Survey Historical Image Collection.

Makeshift profiling Conductivity/Temperature/Depth profiler using a SeaBird 21 recording CTD on a trainwheel. Credit: Paths Less Taken - NOAA at the Ends of the Earth.

[showing a chemist at work in a makeshift laboratory and a dog sitting on the table] / Fred Hall (?). Credit: National Library of Medicine.

Mr. Johnson, FSA (Farm Security Administration) client with part interest in cooperative well using a makeshift dam of tumbleweeds and board in order to divert water from irrigation ditch to field, Syracuse, Kansas. Credit: Library of Congress.

One of Edgar Allen's children sitting on the bed in the house on his farm. There are no sheets, pillowcases, or pillows (other than makeshift) in use. Bedding usually consists of castoff rags and a few old blankets. Near Milford, Iowa. They are helped by. Credit: Library of Congress.

Outskirts of Salinas, California. Rapidly growing settlement of lettuce workers. Family from Oklahoma settling in makeshift dwelling. Credit: Library of Congress.

Roger Spence's home burned down and he now lives in their makeshift home. Eastern Shore, Maryland. Credit: Library of Congress.

Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits.

Business

So highly popular is basketball that it is not uncommon to see makeshift basketball courts in streets of busy neighborhoods. (references)

Unlike the parents, who started their business activities with some makeshift hotel, taverna or regional distributorship, today’s tourism infrastructure investor knows that quality, efficiency and state-of-the art technology play a key role for success. (references)

Civil Liberties

Pakistan

Some of the most recent arrivals still reside in makeshift tents. (references)

Human Rights

Belize

During the year, prison authorities confiscated a large number of deadly weapons, including 23 machetes and 4 makeshift guns. (references)

Burma

Thousands of villagers either fled or were driven from their homes, where they lived in makeshift forest shelters, frequently in heavily mined areas without adequate food, security, or basic medical care. (references)

Minorities

Yugoslavia

On February 2, unknown assailants beat a Roma boy, Cuci Nikolic, and put him in a makeshift jail. (references)

Political Economy

Sudan

However, the Government permitted some makeshift structures to be used for Roman Catholic services. (references)

Worker Rights

United Arab Emirates

The family reportedly lived in a makeshift camp in the city of Al-Ain; the couple's daughters and baby born in the country were not given residence visas to remain in the country. (references)

Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

Expression using "makeshift": makeshift solution. Additional references.

Albanian

zëvendësues (acting, adjunct, deputy, ersatz, expletive, fill in, locum tenens, stand by, stand in, stopgap, substitute, substitution, surrogate), i rastit (adventitious, casual, chance, coincidental, contingent, fortuitous, haphazard, incident, incidental, occasional, odd, passing, random, scratch, stray, transient), i improvizuar (extemporaneous, extemporary, impromptu, improvised), diçka e improvizuar. (various references)

Arabic 

‏وسيلة (appliance, connection, connexion, contrivance, device, engine, expedience, expediency, expedient, facility, in a way, instrument, instrumentation, intermediary, mean, measure, modality, resource, string, tactic, twist), ‏حيلة (artifice, deceit, device, dodge, expedient, fetch, finesse, fraud, gag, imposition, monkey business, ploy, prank, ruse, sleight, stalking horse, stratagem, subterfuge, trick, twist, wile), ‏ترتيب مؤقت, ‏زريعة. (various references)

Bulgarian 

временно импровизирано средство, временен (ambulatory, fly-by-night, impermanent, interim, interlocutory, provisional, provisory, temporary, tentative, transient, working), заместител (analog, analogue, stand in, sub, substituent, substitute, succedaneum, surrogate), импровизиран (candid, extemporaneous, extemporary, extempore, impromptu, improvised, off the cuff, offhand, rough and ready, scratch, unpremeditated). (various references)

Chinese 

暂时 (impermanent). (various references)

Czech

provizorní (provisional, provisory, temporary, tentative), provizórium, pomoc z nouze (expedient). (various references)

Danish

nødværktøj. (various references)

Dutch

noodgereedschap. (various references)

Farsi 

چاره موقتی , چاره (Recourse, Remedy), وسیله (Appliance, Handle, Inducement, Instrument, Instrumental, Medium, Organ, Recourse, Resource), ادم رذل (Knave, Rascal, Scalawag, Scamp). (various references)

Finnish

hätävara, hätäkeino (emergency measure, expedient). (various references)

French

outillage de fortune, improvisé, expédient, de fortune. (various references)

German

behelfsmäßig (Band aid). (various references)

Greek 

κοινά εργαλεία, βασικά εργαλεία, μπάλωμα (botch, darn, patch), πρόχειρη λύση, πρόχειροσ (extemporaneous, handily, handy, improvised, rough, sketchy), πρόχειρος (handy, haphazard, rough, sketchy). (various references)

Hebrew 

תחליף (alternative, ersatz, replacement, spare, substitute, substitution, surrogate), סדור זמני. (various references)

Hungarian

szükségmegoldás (make-do), szükség- (emergency), silány munka, silány (chintzy, crappy, crummy, gimpy, half-assed, low-grade, mean, naff, pitiable, poor, raunchy, sleazo, sleazy, stinky, tin-pot), kisegítő megoldás (recourse), kisegítő (assistant, auxiliary, hand, mate), ideiglenes tákolmány, hevenyészett (ad-lib, extemporal, extemporaneous, extemporary, extempore, hasty, quickie, quicky, rough, rough-hewn, sketchy), összetákolt (lashed-together, quickie, quicky). (various references)

Italian

espediente (centre, contrivance, device, dodge, expedient, means, middle, resource, resources, shift). (various references)

Japanese Kanji 

間に合せ , 間に合わせ , その場逃れ (stopgap), 当座凌ぎ (for the time being), 其の場逃れ (stopgap), 姑息 , 仮拵え (temporary building), 俄造り (improvised), 一時凌ぎ (temporary expedient). (various references)

Japanese Katakana 

そのばのがれ (stopgap), まにあわせ, にわかづくり (improvised), かりごしらえ (temporary building), いちじしのぎ (temporary expedient), こそく, とうざしのぎ (for the time being). (various references)

Manx

scaa 'sy ghoarlish, lieh (behalf, half, moiety, one of two things, part), leshtal son. (various references)

Pig Latin

akeshiftmay.(various references)

Portuguese

transitório (brief, deciduous, ephemeral, fleeting, frail, fugacious, momentary, passing, perishable, perishing, temporary, transient, transitional, transitory), temporário (interim, provisional, temporary, transitory), solução de ocasião, recurso de emergência, improvisado (ad lib, cavalier, extemporary, extempore, half-cocked, impromptu, improvised, jury, offhand, offhanded, scratch, unpremeditated, unprepared), ferramenta auxiliar, expediente (business hours, device, dodge, dodgery, expedient, health-resort, knack, means, remedy, resort, resourcefulness, resources, shift), de emergência (jury). (various references)

Romanian

temporar (acting, casual, fleeting, pro tempore, provisional, provisionally, provisory, temporarily, temporary), provizoriu (flying, interim, passing, provisionally, temporarily, temporary), paliativ (palliation, palliative), folosit ca expedient, expedient (expedient, shift, substitute), înlocuitor (acting, deputy, locum tenens, substitute, surrogate). (various references)

Russian 

временный (dummy, impermanent, interim, make-do, provisional, service, temporal, temporary, time division), временное приспособление (lash-up), замена (change, commutation, exchange, replacement, stand in, substitute, substitution, supersedence, supersedure), импровизированный (extemporaneous, improvised). (various references)

Serbo-Croatian

surogat (ersatz, surrogate), privremeno sredstvo (stopgap), improvizovan (extemporary, extempore, improvised, offhand), improvizacija (improvisation). (various references)

Spanish

utillaje auxiliar, provisional (interim, pro tem, pro tempora, provisional, provisory, rough and ready, temporary), improvisado (extemporaneous, extemporary, extempore, impromptu, improvised, offhanded, rough and ready), improvisación (ad lib, extemporization, impromptu, improvisation), expediente (action, brief, device, dismissal, expedient, file, means, proceedings, record, resource, shift, transcript), emplasto (pack, plaster, poultice, weakling), arreglo provisional. (various references)

Swedish

provisorisk (experimental, interim, provisional, provisory), nödfallsutväg (fall back). (various references)

Thai

สิ่งที่ใช้ทดแทนชั่วคราว, ซึ่งทดแทนชั่วคราว. (various references)

Turkish

geçici önlem türünden, geçici önlem (filler, improvisation, interim injunction, interlocutory injunction, stopgap), geçici çözüm, geçici (ad interim, Band aid, casual, curable, deciduous, ephemeral, extrinsic, fading, flying, fortuitous, fugacious, impermanent, interim, interlocutory, jury, momentary, palliative, passing, pro forma, provisional, provisory, provo, stopgap, temporal, temporary, tentative, transient, transitory, volatile), eğreti (artificial, Band aid, extrinsic, improvised, jury, rough, stopgap, temporary, transitory). (various references)

Ukrainian

тимчасовий засіб, тимчасовий (ambulatory, caducous, casual, extempore, improvised, interim, jury, provisional, provisory, seasonal, stopgap, temporal, temporary), заміна (alternate, change, commutation, exchange, quits, substitute, substitution). (various references)

Derivations

Words beginning with "makeshift": makeshifts. (additional references)

Misspellings

"Makeshift" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: makeshit, nakeshift. (additional references)

Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

-2 letters: atheism, mistake.

-3 letters: faiths, famish, fetish, fiesta, hakims, kismat, kismet, kithes, mashie, misate, miseat, saithe, samekh, samite, theism.

-4 letters: amies, emits, faith, fakes, fames, fates, feast, feats, feist, fetas, fiats, haems, haets, hafis, hafts, haiks, hakes, hakim, hames, haste, hates, heats, hefts, heist, hikes, ikats, items, kaifs, kames, khafs, khats, khets, kiefs, kites.

+1 letter: makeshifts.