fill a vacancy; make up for a deficiency
Meanings
3 senses · 8 examplesverb
to fill a vacancy; to supply a deficiency
Used for personnel positions, quotas, or any allocated number that is short.
The company is hiring new employees to fill the vacancies left by departing staff.
This position is temporarily vacant and urgently needs to be filled.
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The election commission must arrange a by-election to fill the vacancy left by the resigning member.
verb
to remedy a deficiency; to make up for what is lacking
Often used in contexts of systems, plans, knowledge, or materials where something is missing or incomplete.
The data in this report is incomplete and needs to be supplemented quickly.
The new regulation aims to plug loopholes in the existing legal system.
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The teacher arranged tutoring sessions for students with poor grades to make up for their knowledge gaps.
verb
(historical) for a candidate official to obtain a substantive post
archaicThis is an archaic usage from imperial China's bureaucratic system.
Having been a candidate official at the Ministry of Personnel for many years, he finally obtained a substantive post this year and was appointed as a county magistrate.
Obtaining a substantive post was an important path for candidate officials to get actual positions in the Qing Dynasty's bureaucratic system.