makeshift
adj.made quickly using whatever materials you have around you because you do not have the right tools or equipment. It is usually a temporary solution to a problem.
adj.serving as a temporary substitute for something else; improvised from available resources. Often describes physical structures or tools created in an emergency or under resource constraints.
“They used a piece of wood as a makeshift table.”
“After the storm destroyed the bridge, the villagers built a makeshift crossing using fallen trees and thick rope.”
“The refugees established a makeshift clinic in the abandoned warehouse, utilizing crates as examination tables and battery-powered lanterns for lighting during night shifts.”
Typically used attributively before the noun it modifies.
“Some held up colanders, others a spatula with holes, still others makeshift pinhole cameras made of old candy boxes.”
“Outside Whitechapel tube station, there was a makeshift stall selling the glasses for £10 a pop.”
Deverbal from make shift. First appears c. 1554, in the publications of H. Hilarie.
1560s. From make + shift.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.