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backfill

American  
[bak-fil] / ˈbækˌfɪl /

noun

  1. material used for refilling an excavation.

verb (used with object)

  1. to refill (an excavation).

  2. to make up for a loss or shortfall of supplies or funds.

    It is illegal to backfill the state budget with federal emergency funds.

  3. to fill (a recently vacated position), often with an internal candidate or temp.

backfill British  
/ ˈbækˌfɪl /

verb

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

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

noun

  1. the soil used to do this

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of backfill

First recorded in 1950–55; back 2 + fill

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.