Meaning & use
backfill
Last updated
To fill an excavated hole or trench back in with soil or material; more broadly, to retroactively fill in missing information or a vacant role.
See it in a sentence
Workers backfilled the trench once the new pipes were installed.
The manager asked her to backfill the sales numbers that were missing from last quarter's report.
A note on using this word
Widely used in construction for its literal sense and in offices and tech for its figurative sense, such as 'backfilling a position' after someone leaves.
Words with a similar meaning
Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.
Words with an opposite meaning
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “backfill”, then compare your use with the examples above.
Your draft stays on this page and is not sent anywhere.