## Meanings
1. a thin wedge or strip used to fill a gap or level something
2. a small software layer that adapts, patches, or provides compatibility between systems
3. to adjust, support, or make compatible by inserting a shim

## Examples
- He slipped a wooden shim under the wobbly table leg.
- The library includes a shim so older browsers can use the new API.
- The migration shims the legacy method until every caller is updated.

## Synonyms
- wedge
- spacer
- packing
- filler
- adapter
- compatibility layer
- wrapper
- polyfill
- bridge

## Antonyms
- gap
- mismatch
- incompatibility

## Derived Forms
- shimmed
- shimming

## Related Forms
- adapter
- polyfill
- wrapper
- compatibility
- spacer

## Etymology
Of obscure origin, first attested in the early 18th century, perhaps from a Kentish dialect word for a wedge or slip of material. Software borrowed the physical image: a thin inserted layer that makes two otherwise mismatched parts fit together.

## AI Etymology
Shim is from of obscure origin, first attested in the early 18th century, perhaps from a Kentish dialect word; no certain earlier source is known. Morphologically, shim is best read as uncertain formation, yielding an English noun and verb shaped by both form history and later usage. In current English it functions as a noun and verb, with the sense "a thin wedge or strip used to fill a gap or level something". The result is an English noun and verb whose etymology preserves the older forms while supporting the word's specialized modern meaning.

## Topics
- Technology & Computing
- Actions & Processes

markdown

shim

Meanings

Thesaurus

Etymology

Topics

External links

Keyboard Shortcuts

General

Send feedback