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contrivance

[kuh n-trahy-vuh ns]
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noun
  1. something contrived; a device, especially a mechanical one.
  2. the act or manner of contriving; the faculty or power of contriving.
  3. a plan or scheme; expedient.
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Origin of contrivance

First recorded in 1620–30; contrive + -ance
Related formsnon·con·triv·ance, nounpre·con·triv·ance, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

gimmickruseartificecontraptiondodgestratagemtwistangleplotmachinationexpedientslantprojecttrickswitchinventiondesignmeasureformationinventiveness

Examples from the Web for contrivance

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • This expedition up the mountain was entirely of his contrivance.

    The Miraculous Pitcher

    Nathaniel Hawthorne

  • The contrivance, if a contrivance, to get me away, so insolently mean!

    Clarissa, Volume 3 (of 9)

    Samuel Richardson

  • Then he began to experiment, with some rude apparatus of his own contrivance.

    Self-Help

    Samuel Smiles

  • It was by his contrivance the girl had been sent from India.

    Henry Dunbar

    M. E. Braddon

  • Please, however, to note the contrivance which I adopt whenever I am in a difficulty of this sort.

British Dictionary definitions for contrivance

contrivance

noun
  1. something contrived, esp an ingenious device; contraption
  2. the act or faculty of devising or adapting; inventive skill or ability
  3. an artificial rather than natural selection or arrangement of details, parts, etc
  4. an elaborate or deceitful plan or expedient; stratagem
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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 contrivance

n.

1620s, from contrive + -ance.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper