How to Use fill-in in a Sentence

fill-in

1 of 2 noun
  • The good news: He’s played the role of fill-in to some success this season already.
    — Shawn McFarland, Dallas News, 7 Aug. 2023
  • Vásquez was invaluable as a fill-in in place of Darvish and Musgrove, and the Padres won nine of his 20 starts.
    — Kevin Acee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 Feb. 2025
  • 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
  • Mendez, who has been a frequent fill-in in the role over the past few years, formally starts her new gig Dec. 9.
    — Chris Foran, Journal Sentinel, 6 Dec. 2024
  • Yet, Paul Duffy was an excellent fill-in on bass and vocals at the Warfield.
    — Jim Harrington, The Mercury News, 22 Sep. 2024
  • Bruce Pearl the fill-in College coaches have to get their start somewhere.
    — John Raby, Chicago Tribune, 17 Mar. 2025
  • 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
  • The 26-year-old has done well as an injury fill-in before, but he’s shown to be deserving of more work.
    — Eric Stephens, The Athletic, 16 Jan. 2025
  • 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
  • Mitchell beat the fill-in wing for an and-one layup, and Garland shook him on a stepback jumper that iced the game with 55.1 seconds remaining.
    — Zack Cox, Boston Herald, 1 Mar. 2025
  • 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 fill-in defenceman also teed up a couple of heavy shots, but Devon Levi was equal to the challenge.
    — Nick Ashbourne, The Athletic, 16 Dec. 2024
  • The stand-up and roast dais veteran revealed to fill-in Jimmy Kimmel Live!
    — Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 12 July 2024
  • Chandler Zavala, a 2023 fourth-round pick, also played very well as a fill-in starting guard at times last season.
    — Mike Kaye, Charlotte Observer, 9 Mar. 2025
  • 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
  • Clarkson came back for a couple of days, but has been MIA since March 6 while an ever-changing cast of fill-in hosts has taken over her show.
    — Christie D’zurilla, Los Angeles Times, 13 Mar. 2025
  • 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

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 | [email protected], al, 2 Sep. 2023
  • The rest is left for Berry to fill in with the right guys at the right price.
    — Doug Lesmerises, cleveland, 18 Feb. 2022
  • But that said, there will be voids to fill in the room.
    — Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 26 June 2024
  • The Raiders now have a huge void to fill in the middle of that side of the ball.
    — Vic Tafur, The Athletic, 11 Mar. 2025
  • 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
  • One night in 1955, when the station’s overnight D.J. did not show up, Mr. Mark was asked to fill in.
    — New York Times, 26 Apr. 2022
  • But in this case, Josh Smith is around to fill in as the backup shortstop.
    — Dallas News, 6 Mar. 2023
  • Harlem Toile, in all its wit and finery, helps to fill in the visual gaps.
    — New York Times, 25 Mar. 2022
  • 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
  • Showers have filled in from Prescott to Cordes this morning.
    — Barbara A. Perry, Newsweek, 27 Jan. 2025
  • The plan was for Lee to fill in while Edwards worked on getting her health back, and Lee was good with that.
    — San Diego Union-Tribune, 29 Jan. 2022
  • This serum helps fill in sparse spots for a denser, longer, and stronger lash appearance.
    — Jasmine Washington, Seventeen, 1 Aug. 2022
  • First minorities, then women in combat, then gays filled in that blank.
    — Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 23 Mar. 2025
  • Georgios, 30, and his Eagles of Antioch want to fill in the security gap until tensions ease.
    — Chris Massaro, Fox News, 23 Mar. 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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