Makeshift means temporary and improvised, created quickly from whatever materials are available because you don't have the proper tools or equipment. When something is makeshift, it's a quick solution that gets the job done even though it's not ideal.

If you break your shoelace right before gym class, you might tie the two ends together as a makeshift repair until you can get a new lace. When a fort made of couch cushions serves as a makeshift castle for an afternoon of pretend play, you're using what's on hand rather than building something permanent. During emergencies, people create makeshift shelters from tarps and branches, or use a backpack as a makeshift pillow.

A makeshift solution shows resourcefulness: instead of giving up because you lack the perfect tool or material, you figure out a clever substitute. Scientists in remote locations might build makeshift laboratories in tents. A broken zipper repaired with a safety pin, a textbook propped under a wobbly desk leg, or a rope tied into a loop to serve as a jump rope: these are all makeshift solutions that work well enough until something better comes along.