shim

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a thin wedge or strip used to fill a gap or level something

   He slipped a wooden shim under the wobbly table leg.

2. 2
   noun

   a small software layer that adapts, patches, or provides compatibility between systems

   The library includes a shim so older browsers can use the new API.

3. 3
   verb

   to adjust, support, or make compatible by inserting a shim

   The migration shims the legacy method until every caller is updated.

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.

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