makeshift
temporary, low quality
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
MAKESHIFT medicine
In Syria, opposition groups have set ups secret hospitals to treat those injured in the fighting with government troops.
Amid the bustle at Kennedy International Airport on Sunday, a group of recently acquainted New Yorkers packed up boxes of office supplies, snapped a group photograph and said their goodbyes.
With that, the MAKESHIFT legal aid office set up to help detained passengers in the aftermath of President Trump’s targeted travel ban was dismantled.
The Economist online
In Syria, opposition groups have set ups secret hospitals to treat those injured in the fighting with government troops.
Amid the bustle at Kennedy International Airport on Sunday, a group of recently acquainted New Yorkers packed up boxes of office supplies, snapped a group photograph and said their goodbyes.
With that, the MAKESHIFT legal aid office set up to help detained passengers in the aftermath of President Trump’s targeted travel ban was dismantled.
The Economist online
Did you
know?
makeshift
adjective
- temporary and of low quality, but used because of a sudden need
noun
- a temporary substitute or device
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ETYMOLOGY
The origin of makeshift is not known, but probably has something to do with the concept of "shift" as in arranging something in a different position.
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TALKING POINT
The makeshift loo
At the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in 2002, South African water affairs and forestry director-general Mike Muller sat on a makeshift toilet at the Waterdome while displaying a curious item: a roll of official "summit toilet paper".
The paper was printed with messages highlighting the plight of the millions of people around the world without access to sanitation and clean water.
Among the messages carried on the roll? "Hygiene is not a soft issue."
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SYNONYMS
Band-Aid, alternative, make-do, provisional, quick-and-dirty, slapdash, stopgap, substitute, temporary, standby, rough and ready, emergency, improvised, ad hoc, impromptu, extemporary, extempore, thrown together, cobbled together; jury-rigged
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SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"The staff meeting is in the makeshift conference room in the basement."
---
Thanks to Florian for suggesting today's word
adjective
- temporary and of low quality, but used because of a sudden need
noun
- a temporary substitute or device
---
ETYMOLOGY
The origin of makeshift is not known, but probably has something to do with the concept of "shift" as in arranging something in a different position.
---
TALKING POINT
The makeshift loo
At the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in 2002, South African water affairs and forestry director-general Mike Muller sat on a makeshift toilet at the Waterdome while displaying a curious item: a roll of official "summit toilet paper".
The paper was printed with messages highlighting the plight of the millions of people around the world without access to sanitation and clean water.
Among the messages carried on the roll? "Hygiene is not a soft issue."
---
SYNONYMS
Band-Aid, alternative, make-do, provisional, quick-and-dirty, slapdash, stopgap, substitute, temporary, standby, rough and ready, emergency, improvised, ad hoc, impromptu, extemporary, extempore, thrown together, cobbled together; jury-rigged
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"The staff meeting is in the makeshift conference room in the basement."
---
Thanks to Florian for suggesting today's word
