contraption

[ kuh n-trap-shuh n ]

/ kənˈtræp ʃən /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR contraption ON THESAURUS.COM

noun Informal.

a mechanical contrivance; gadget; device.

Nearby words

contraplete, contrapose, contraposition, contrapositive, contrapposto, contraption, contrapuntal, contrapuntist, contrarian, contrariety, contrarily

Origin of contraption

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

Related forms

con·trap·tious, adjective

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

Examples from the Web for 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|DAILY BEAST
He was, it appears, overpowered as the contraption failed to properly ignite.
An Airplane's Gift to Terrorists|Clive Irving|December 26, 2009|DAILY BEAST
On the Hall plantation there was a contraption, similar to a gallows, where the slaves were suspended and whipped.
Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States|Work Projects Administration
No, what would become of us, if you go out there and blow yourself up with that contraption?
Uller Uprising|Henry Beam Piper, John D. Clark and John F. Carr

But when some of your cows set their eyes on this contraption theyre goin to kick holes in the airan thats sartain!
Ruth Fielding at Silver Ranch|Alice B. Emerson
Instinctively he obeyed the impulse to shove the contraption of metal from him with his hands.
The Jameson Satellite|Neil Ronald Jones
Yesterday we could bag them one after the other, as fast as I could fire this contraption.
Black Eyes and the Daily Grind|Milton Lesser

British Dictionary definitions for contraption

contraption

/ (kənˈtræpʃən) /

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

contraption

noun Informal.

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of contraption

Related forms

Examples from the Web for contraption

British Dictionary definitions for contraption

contraption

noun

Word Origin for contraption