MacGyver
Americanverb (used with object)
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.
Channeling the fictional 1980s secret agent MacGyver, he unwound the paper clip and stuck it in his TV’s coaxial port to get a signal.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 8, 2025
Stern described his longtime friend as tremendously talented, a MacGyver and a jack-of-all-trades.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 6, 2023
You gonna MacGyver a snare for a crook?
From Washington Post • Oct. 13, 2022
Many new words are drawn from popular culture, including the verb MacGyver, inspired by the television character who can make or repair just about anything with ordinary items within reach.
From Seattle Times • Sep. 8, 2022
But I can tell that it hasn’t reached in and grabbed their souls the way it has for me and MacGyver.
From "The Queen of Water" by Laura Resau
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.
