backfill

[ bak-fil ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

material used for refilling an excavation.

verb (used with object)

to refill (an excavation).
to make up for a loss or shortfall of supplies or funds:
It is illegal to backfill the state budget with federal emergency funds.
to fill (a recently vacated position), often with an internal candidate or temp.

backfill

/ ˈ��æ��ˌ��ɪ�� /

verb

tr to refill an excavated trench, esp (in archaeology) at the end of an investigation

noun

the soil used to do this

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Word History and Origins

Origin of backfill¹

First recorded in 1950–55; back ² + fill

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

"The earth that's been used to backfill the grave looks slightly different to that in the adults' graves," explained Dr Marion Shiner, an archaeologist from Cardiff University.

From

“Facility staffing documentation continues to indicate that deployed staff are used to backfill youth supervision staffing, an indication that the department continues to rely on a solution that was intended to be a short-term solution as far back as 2022.”

From

I do think that we knew that we had a lot of viable options to backfill.”

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“California does not have sufficient resources to backfill the gaps in programs that California residents rely upon that would be created by the withdrawal or reduction of federal funds.”

From

He also said he informed the mayor and moved to backfill their positions so that that the department’s recruitment efforts aren’t interrupted.

From

backfile backfire

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