Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
- n. A temporary or expedient substitute for something else.
- adj. Suitable as a temporary or expedient substitute: used a rock as a makeshift hammer.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
- n. A temporary, usually insubstantial, substitution for something else.
- adj. Made to work or suffice; improvised; substituted.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
- n. That with which one makes shift; a temporary expedient, with implication of inferiority to the more usual object or means.
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A shifty person; one given to shifts or expedients; a mischievous fellow.
- n. That with which one makes shift; an expedient adopted to serve a present need or turn; a temporary substitute.
- Of the nature of a temporary expedient.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- n. something contrived to meet an urgent need or emergency
- adj. done or made using whatever is available
Etymologies
Examples
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I think what you call the makeshift contrivances at dear Helstone were a charming part of the life there. '
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Argueta contrasts these accounts with those dragged into the raid's aftermath - a massive operation where workers were tried ten-at-a-time in makeshift courtrooms at a cattle fairground.
Renee Feltz: New Film Tries to Inject Compassion Into Immigration Debate
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In July, a CNN investigation revealed that since the quake that left thousands of children orphaned and up to 1.5 million people living on the streets and in makeshift camps, much of the aid promised to the country has yet to be delivered.
Rev. Jesse Jackson: Haiti: Our Promise, Our History, Our Neighbor
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Here they eke out a hand-to-mouth existence in makeshift settlements around the water desalination plants that the government has set up.
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Several million residents live in makeshift boats, floating slums without electricity or potable water that fester with crime, disease, and prostitution.
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PORT-AU-PRINCE, Oct 22, 2010 (IPS) - Some 1.3 million people have lived in makeshift camps throughout Port-au-Prince since the January earthquake devastated the city.
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The families are living here in makeshift wooden shelters, with straw mats hung over the top as a roof.
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In June 1911, Jack London heartily sick of living in makeshift accomodations at Wake Robin, and seeing that the Wolf House would not be completed for at least another two years, made a move that brought him the happiest and richest years of his life; he bought ten acres in the middle of the Kohler vineyards upon which stood an abandoned winery, a broken-down ranch house, and some barns.
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In 1911, heartily sick of living in makeshift accomodations at Wake Robin, and seeing that the Wolf House would not be completed for at least another two years, he made a move that brought him the happiest and richest years of his life: he bought the twelve acres in the middle of the Kholer vineyards upon which stood an abandoned winery, a broken-down ranch house, and some barns.
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The disaster made 1.3 million people homeless, many of whom are still living in makeshift shelters.
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