Definition

1. Noun:
   • A hurried or temporary repair or solution: A makeshift fix that addresses an immediate problem but does not solve the underlying cause.
   • A small adhesive bandage: A trade name for a small strip of material with an adhesive backing and a gauze pad, used to cover and protect minor cuts or blisters.

Usage Examples

• Noun (Temporary Solution):
  • The new policy is just a band aid for the company's financial troubles.
  • Offering a discount was a band aid solution to the product's quality issues.
• Noun (Adhesive Bandage):
  • She put a band aid on her finger after she cut it.
  • Do you have a band aid? I have a blister from my new shoes.

Advanced Usage

• "Band-aid solution": This is a common collocation emphasizing the temporary and inadequate nature of a fix.
  • The government's response was criticized as a band-aid solution to a systemic crisis.
• Used attributively (as an adjective): The term is often used before a noun to describe the nature of the fix.
  • They implemented a series of band-aid measures to keep the system running.

Variants and Related Words

• Band-Aid®: The registered trademark form. In formal writing, this is the correct form when referring to the brand of adhesive bandages.
• Adhesive bandage: The generic term for the medical product.
• Plaster: The common term used in British English for an adhesive bandage.
• Stopgap: A synonym for a temporary measure or solution.
• Makeshift: Used to describe a temporary and often crude substitute or solution.

Synonyms

• For the "solution" meaning: Stopgap, quick fix, temporary measure, makeshift solution, patch.
• For the "bandage" meaning: Adhesive bandage, plaster, sticking plaster.

Related Idioms

• "Put a band-aid on it": This idiom means to apply a superficial or temporary fix to a problem.
  • Instead of fixing the leak properly, he just put a band-aid on it.

Noun

1. hurried repair
2. trade name for an adhesive bandage to cover small cuts or blisters