How to Use fill-in in a Sentence

fill-in

1 of 2 noun
Definition of fill-innext
Synonyms for fill-innext
  • The good news: He’s played the role of fill-in to some success this season already.
    — Shawn McFarland, Dallas News, 7 Aug. 2023
  • The reason: He’s simply outplayed Josh Smith, who was the Rangers’ first choice as a fill-in.
    — Evan Grant, Dallas News, 3 May 2023
  • Since the thought really does count more than the gifts, have your student fill out the prompts in this fill-in-the-blank book.
    — Marisa Lascala, Good Housekeeping, 31 Mar. 2023
  • There will be an assortment of fill-in hosts for Sandler on the pre- and post-game shows.
    — Evan Grant, Dallas News, 22 Mar. 2023
  • Meanwhile, House Democrats have their own set of requirements for the fill-in.
    — Ellie Quinlan Houghtaling, The New Republic, 19 Oct. 2023
  • The fill-in turned out to be the clairvoyant’s former classmate.
    — J. Kim Murphy, Variety, 4 Sep. 2024
  • Yet, Paul Duffy was an excellent fill-in on bass and vocals at the Warfield.
    — Jim Harrington, The Mercury News, 22 Sep. 2024
  • Gavin Stone has stepped up in a big way and Landon Knack has proven to be more than capable in a fill-in role.
    — Bill Plunkett, Orange County Register, 1 July 2024
  • Duthiers, who has worked as a correspondent and fill-in on the program since 2019, has seen his role grow over time.
    — Brian Steinberg, Variety, 27 Mar. 2023
  • As the ceremony began, the fill-in DJs could not figure out how to work the equipment and get the music to play.
    — Erin Clack, People.com, 23 Oct. 2024
  • For a new set of lash extensions, the process will last about 30 minutes and for fill-ins, only 20 minutes.
    — India Espy-Jones, Essence, 23 Aug. 2023
  • Even some fill-in duty as the Dodgers’ leadoff hitter the last couple days, while Mookie Betts was away for the birth of his child.
    — Jack Harris, Los Angeles Times, 20 Apr. 2023
  • Bruce Bochy said Josh Smith, who started five games there last year as a rookie, will be the primary fill-in.
    — Evan Grant, Dallas News, 13 Apr. 2023
  • Savarese said Diego Gutierrez, who came on as a second-half substitute, could play more in a fill-in role.
    — oregonlive, 27 Feb. 2023
  • The stand-up and roast dais veteran revealed to fill-in Jimmy Kimmel Live!
    — Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 12 July 2024
  • Mekari can play anywhere along the line, which is one of the reasons the Ravens would prefer to keep him in his usual rotational fill-in role.
    — Brian Wacker, Baltimore Sun, 21 July 2024
  • For years, Groff was a fill-in mail carrier who worked on days when other mail carriers were off.
    — Jessica Gresko, Fortune, 18 Apr. 2023
  • Thursday marks the first major test for the All-Stars' fill-ins to make an impact at the major league level, with first pitch against the White Sox slated for 6:08 p.m. central.
    — Michael Shapiro, Chron, 30 Mar. 2023
  • Then the rookie who the establishment overlooked impressed by winning his first game as a fill-in starter.
    — Andrew Beaton, WSJ, 27 Oct. 2023
  • With a group of mostly fill-in starters unable to shoulder the load that was expected to be carried by their stars, the Yankees and the Mets have combined to start the season 33-31.
    — Benjamin Hoffman, New York Times, 4 May 2023
  • Reddish has received a pretty good look through seven games, even grabbing a couple of fill-in starts.
    — Dan Woike, Los Angeles Times, 8 Nov. 2023
  • Practice squad fullback Jason Cabinda also can play as a fill-in tight end.
    — Dave Birkett, Detroit Free Press, 24 Jan. 2024
  • Until then, low-scoring games will likely be the norm along with hoping the fill-ins can contribute along with the healthy regulars.
    — Larry Fleisher, Forbes, 3 May 2023
  • The most logical candidate is core special-teams player Oren Burks, who made three fill-in starts last year.
    — Eric Branch, San Francisco Chronicle, 14 Mar. 2023
  • The current collection of receivers has done a pretty respectable job in the absence of Kupp and Nacua, but none of those fill-ins strike fear in opponents.
    — Sam Farmer, Los Angeles Times, 7 Oct. 2024
  • Loud and clear The names painted on the Los Angeles skyscrapers are the faster and easier-to-complete fill-ins, since time is at a premium and the artists risk arrest.
    — Colette Gaiter, The Conversation, 15 Feb. 2024
  • Ross Colton, who had been an excellent fill-in as a top-six forward with eight goals in 10 games, skated before the team’s morning workout.
    — Corey Masisak, The Denver Post, 27 Nov. 2024
  • Harlow will be joined by fill-in hosts until a permanent replacement for Collins is named.
    — Stephen Battaglio, Los Angeles Times, 17 May 2023
  • Their healthy fill-in options include Luis Rengifo and Andrew Velazquez.
    — Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 31 July 2023
  • And so far Cody Poteet (signed as a free agent in January after being released by the Royals) has done an excellent job as a fill-in starter.
    — Bill Madden, New York Daily News, 15 June 2024
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fill in

2 of 2 verb
  • If not, a quick trip to the store will fill in the gaps.
    — Sheri Castle, Southern Living, 20 Oct. 2023
  • The next step is filling in all the pieces in the middle.
    — Matt Cohen | McOhen@al.com, al, 2 Sep. 2023
  • But that said, there will be voids to fill in the room.
    — Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 26 June 2024
  • There's a lot of time to fill in between the break-up and that night.
    — Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 8 Aug. 2024
  • The goal is to get a range; your design team should be able to fill in the blanks.
    — Laura Fenton, House Beautiful, 1 Dec. 2022
  • There are nearly 200 years’ worth of blanks to fill in.
    — Joey Morona, cleveland, 19 Aug. 2022
  • Every Don has been forced to step up to fill in for Blyashov.
    — Terry Monahan, San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 Nov. 2022
  • Friends like Chad Carter, a groomsman, have helped to fill in the blanks.
    — Tammy Lagorce, New York Times, 8 Mar. 2024
  • But in this case, Josh Smith is around to fill in as the backup shortstop.
    — Dallas News, 6 Mar. 2023
  • The old pool was filled in with concrete to make way for more apartments.
    — Tammy Ljungblad, Kansas City Star, 16 Apr. 2024
  • Determined to fill in the gaps, the team started the study about 18 months ago.
    — Lesley M.m. Blume, BostonGlobe.com, 21 July 2023
  • Should the galvanizing get scratched, the zinc next to the scratch corrodes faster and fills in the scratch!
    — Tim Carter, Hartford Courant, 23 Nov. 2024
  • Plus, the Bronx Bombers have a massive hole to fill in their lineup and at first base.
    — Paul Du Quenoy, Newsweek, 9 Dec. 2024
  • Don’t dig farther than waist-deep—and fill in your hole when you’re done.
    — Eileen Finan, Peoplemag, 31 May 2024
  • Bram van den Berg is filling in for Larry at the shows.
    — Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 6 Mar. 2023
  • As injuries piled up to linebackers, the 49ers turned to Campbell to fill in.
    — Benedict Cosgrove, Newsweek, 20 Dec. 2024
  • Throughout Edey’s stint on the bench in the first half, Kaufman-Renn filled in at center.
    — The Indianapolis Star, 6 Jan. 2024
  • These plants take up space and expand to fill in garden holes.
    — Katherine McLaughlin, Architectural Digest, 7 Aug. 2024
  • Thanks to Sara Ganim for filling in for me these past few shows.
    — Taylor Wilson, USA TODAY, 1 July 2024
  • Put about two tablespoons of filling in the center, and brush the edges of the dough with egg.
    — Anna Theoktisto, Southern Living, 18 Sep. 2023
  • In the game, a user is presented with a grid, and a few squares are filled in with a sun or a moon.
    — Jordan Novet, CNBC, 8 Oct. 2024
  • This serum helps fill in sparse spots for a denser, longer, and stronger lash appearance.
    — Jasmine Washington, Seventeen, 1 Aug. 2022
  • But if anything goes wrong, that extra acre is there to fill in the gaps.
    — Tim Newcomb, Popular Mechanics, 7 Feb. 2023
  • But the Wildcats have options to fill in for as long as Rodriguez is gone.
    — Brett Dawson, The Courier-Journal, 3 Sep. 2022
  • Outline the letters with gold paint pens and fill in the outline with a paint pen or gold acrylic paint.
    — Monique Valeris, Good Housekeeping, 27 June 2022
  • The choice of Stone to fill in for Williams was as much about fit as anything Hamilton did or did not do.
    — Childs Walker, Baltimore Sun, 18 Nov. 2022
  • By nature of the TV show format, there is more for viewers to fill in on their own.
    — Jackie Strause, The Hollywood Reporter, 28 Dec. 2022
  • Choose a container with drainage holes and use a good potting mixture to fill in around the plant.
    — Southern Living Editors, Southern Living, 11 Sep. 2023
  • The gigantic part got filled in later, at least for me.
    — Jordan Hoffman, The Hollywood Reporter, 18 July 2024
  • The Chargers were calling on practice squad players who hadn’t even had a week’s worth of practices to fill in.
    — Thuc Nhi Nguyen, Los Angeles Times, 9 Jan. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'fill-in.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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