polyfill

English

Etymology 1

Blend of polyester +‎ fill.

Noun

polyfill (uncountable)

1. A synthetic textile used for bulk or insulation, e.g., in stuffed animals or coats.
   • 1981 October 11, Jeanne Clare Feron, “Careful Shopper; Elmsford Warehouse A Weekend Store”, in New York Times, page 16:

     The racks include blouses and sweaters and some polyfill vests, with corduroy coats and outerwear due to be in stock as the weather cools.

   • 1989 June 14, John Durant, “Classification of stuffed doll and stuffed clown rattle”, in Commodity Classification Under the Harmonized System, volume 1, number 4, United States Customs Service, page 215:

     The first article, designated a troll, is 12 inches tall, composed of polyfill with a cotton knit shell.

Etymology 2

Blend of polygon +‎ fill.

Noun

polyfill (uncountable)

1. (computer graphics) An algorithm to fill a polygon with a particular color.
   • 1992 February 3, Paal K Holmberg, “question on polyfill algorithm”, in comp.graphics‎^[1] (Usenet), message-ID <1992Feb3.120657.7173@alf.uib.no>:

     In the process i have come up with the following algorithm , and i wonder if it is a good one (i.e. fast), and also if anyone can give me tips on any other fast polyfill algoritm^[sic].

Etymology 3

Named with reference to the spackling paste Polyfilla.

Noun

polyfill (plural polyfills)

1. (web development) A plugin that provides the functionality of newer browsers to older versions.
   • 2016 April 17, Stefan Weiss, “A few problems with looping thru a set of elements with the same "name" specifier.”, in comp.lang.javascript‎^[2] (Usenet), message-ID <nf03hk$bll$1@news.albasani.net>:

     A common way to group elements for collective use by JavaScript is to assign them the same (CSS) class and then to use getElementsByClassName(). Possibly with a polyfill for the "certain old browser".

Translations

plugin that provides functionality of newer browsers

• Japanese: ポリフィル (porifiru)

Verb

polyfill (third-person singular simple present polyfills, present participle polyfilling, simple past and past participle polyfilled)

1. (web development, transitive, intransitive) To create or apply a polyfill.
   • 2017 January 17, Thomas 'PointedEars' Lahn, “form sending undefined”, in comp.lang.javascript‎^[3] (Usenet), message-ID <1645793.CQOukoFCf9@PointedEars.de>:

     See the FAQ. Or polyfill String.prototype.trim() if necessary and just call .trim().