bridge the gap

English

WOTD – 15 February 2013

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

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Verb

bridge the gap (third-person singular simple present bridges the gap, present participle bridging the gap, simple past and past participle bridged the gap)

1. (idiomatic) To serve as or create a connection between disconnected or disparate things.
   • 2011, Ronald H. Bayor, editor, Multicultural America: An Encyclopedia of the Newest Americans, Greenwood, →ISBN, page 505:

     Today there is no doubt that Dominican women have been actively involved in building the community, in struggling to keep their cultural heritage alive, and in keeping families together by bridging the gap between Dominicans from the homeland and those who live in the United States.

   • 2011, John F. McEldowney, “Managing financial risk: the precautionary principle and protecting the public interest in the UK”, in John Raymond LaBrosse, Rodrigo Olivares-Caminal, Dalvinder Singh, editors, Managing Risk in the Financial System, Edward Elgar Publishing, →ISBN, page 450:

     It is argued that the precautionary principle provides an important mechanism for bridging the gap between public and private sectors in their approach to financial harm.

   • 2013, Phil McNulty, "Aston Villa 2-1 Bradford (3-4)", BBC Sport, 22 January 2012:

     The Bantams bridged the gap between the bottom division of English league football and the Premier League to secure a place at Wembley, despite a 2-1 second-leg defeat.

   • 2021 November 17, “Network News: Recovering the derailed carriages”, in RAIL, number 944, page 8:

     GWR ran trains between Salisbury and Cardiff Central, and between Romsey and Portsmouth Harbour, with buses bridging the gap.

   • 2024 May 1, Mel Holley, “Network News: Elizabeth line '345s' offer a lifeline for Derby Works”, in RAIL, number 1008, page 8:

     The order would help to bridge the gap at the now empty factory, which delivered its last train on March 21, before the start of work on HS2 trains which Transport Secretary Mark Harper said will be in "early 2026".

Translations

to serve as or create a connection

Finnish: yhdistää (fi) French: faire la soudure (fr)