contraption
[kuh n-trap-shuh n]
- a mechanical contrivance; gadget; device.
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Origin of contraption
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for contraption
Contemporary Examples
Instinctively, we know it's not, but despair about how to turn the contraption off.
He was, it appears, overpowered as the contraption failed to properly ignite.
Historical Examples
But it took ten days to get the contraption ready for the next fizzle.
The Depot MasterJoseph C. Lincoln
My children's teeth never had to have all this contraption on them.
GigoloEdna Ferber
When we find Craven, we'll find the contraption that's blanketing Jupiter and its moons.
EmpireClifford Donald Simak
Go upstairs again, Amy, and haul up this end of the contraption.
The Campfire Girls of RoselawnMargaret Penrose
Wall, stranger, what kind of a contraption do you-all reckon to have thar?
Bert Wilson's Twin Cylinder RacerJ. W. Duffield
contraption
- informal, often facetious, or derogatory a device or contrivance, esp one considered strange, unnecessarily intricate, or improvised
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Word Origin
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
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Word Origin and History for contraption
n.
1825, western England dialect, origin obscure, perhaps from con(trive) + trap, or deception.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper