Definition of "provisional" []

• Provided or serving only for the time being. See Synonyms at temporary. (adjective)
• Of or relating to any of the extremist factions of the Irish Republican Army established in 1970. (adjective)
• A person hired temporarily for a job, typically before having taken an examination qualifying the person for permanent employment: fire department provisionals. (noun)
• A temporary stamp that is used before the official issue is released. (noun)
• A member of a Provisional faction of the Irish Republican Army established in 1970. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• ""For a poll worker, a provisional is the easy way out.""
• "And I just visited an outpost, what we call a provisional reconstruction team in Zabul Province, where this fighting is going on."
• "The group's so-called "citizens" and elected "President" Daniel Miller set up what they call their provisional government in a 16,000-square-foot building that once was a hospital."