gizmo
Americannoun
-
gizmos
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of gizmo
First recorded in 1940–45; origin uncertain
Explanation
A gizmo is a device used for a specific job. A vacuum is a gizmo that cleans the floor. While gizmo often means an unknown object — like a thingamajig — a gizmo is any device that gets a job done. A phone is a gizmo for talking to people. A stove is a gizmo that cooks food. A hammer is a gizmo that pounds in nails. Gizmos are all man-made: a plant or animal can't be a gizmo. If you want to be an inventor, come up with an original gizmo.
Vocabulary lists containing gizmo
Vocabulary from the Songs of "The Little Mermaid"
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Katt vs. Dogg
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Ban This Book
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The gizmo was 1 3/4” thick and weighed 2 lbs.,
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026
Vivoo makes a urine-analysing gizmo that sits on the rim of a toilet bowl, promising to help you understand your hydration "like never before".
From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026
De Jaen crouches to fiddle with alligator clips and bits of wire, as well as six 100-watt light bulbs and a purple gizmo that looks like an electric waffle iron designed for children.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 26, 2024
That gizmo, Professor Gingerich said, worked well enough that “I could easily see the rings of Saturn, and so it was probably slightly better than Galileo’s telescope.”
From New York Times ● Jun. 11, 2023
It's a gizmo that looks like a jackknife, but really it's a whole bunch of little screwdrivers and wrenches and even a little magnifying glass.
From "Freak The Mighty" by Rodman Philbrick
ALTER: When magazines show bathrooms of the future, they are usually just bathrooms of the present, with more gizmos and connectivity.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
In other cases, the industrious gizmos recline in circulating baths of fluid, which ferries away the heat they generate, enabling them to function at very high speeds, known as "overclocking".
From BBC ● Dec. 22, 2025
Google instead wants to blitz you with buggy new gizmos whose basic functionalities lack everything that made Google an empire, a verb, a dependable custodian of the information superhighway.
From Slate ● May 16, 2024
These futuristic gizmos materialize for a chosen few, packed in white boxes with the recipient’s name embossed and an invitation to “play.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 20, 2024
Grandma says, “We don’t need more gizmos and gadgets. Oh, such waste of money.”
From "The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle" by Leslie Connor
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
