contraption

[kuh n-trap-shuh n]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR contraption ON THESAURUS.COM

noun Informal.

a mechanical contrivance; gadget; device.

Origin of contraption

1815–25; perhaps contr(ivance) + (ad)aption, variant of adaptation

Related formscon·trap·tious, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for contraption

rig, gadget, appliance, contrivance, gizmo, widget, apparatus, doohickey, mechanism, machine, thingamajig

Examples from the Web for contraption

Contemporary Examples of contraption

Instinctively, we know it's not, but despair about how to turn the contraption off.
The Daily Beast's Favorite Books of 2010
The Daily Beast
December 18, 2010
He was, it appears, overpowered as the contraption failed to properly ignite.
An Airplane's Gift to Terrorists
Clive Irving
December 26, 2009

Historical Examples of contraption

But it took ten days to get the contraption ready for the next fizzle.
The Depot Master
Joseph C. Lincoln
My children's teeth never had to have all this contraption on them.
Gigolo
Edna Ferber
When we find Craven, we'll find the contraption that's blanketing Jupiter and its moons.
Empire
Clifford Donald Simak
Go upstairs again, Amy, and haul up this end of the contraption.
The Campfire Girls of Roselawn
Margaret Penrose
Wall, stranger, what kind of a contraption do you-all reckon to have thar?
Bert Wilson's Twin Cylinder Racer
J. W. Duffield

British Dictionary definitions for contraption

contraption

noun

informal, often facetious, or derogatory a device or contrivance, esp one considered strange, unnecessarily intricate, or improvised

Word Origin for contraption

C19: perhaps from con (trivance) + trap 1 + (inven) tion

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for contraption

1825, western England dialect, origin obscure, perhaps from con(trive) + trap, or deception.