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gubbins

British

/ ˈɡʌbɪnz /

noun

(functioning as singular) an object of little or no value
(functioning as singular) a small device or gadget
(functioning as plural) odds and ends; litter or rubbish
(functioning as singular) a silly person

"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

Etymology

Origin of gubbins

C16 (meaning: fragments): from obsolete gobbon, probably related to _gobbet

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.

We had already made a terrible mess of it, with three cameras and all the wiry gubbins that goes with them.

From BBC • May 21, 2011

All the lighting, heating and plumbing gubbins have been carefully concealed, but some doors do lack handles; this is simply because, after so many years, Jackson has still to find the right ones.

From The Guardian • Dec. 20, 2010

To Clough, this reeked of mediocrity, so not long after his arrival in 1967, he got rid of the extraneous gubbins and stripped the club's crest back to a massive ram's head.

From The Guardian • Dec. 3, 2010

There's a clever electronic gubbins hidden away somewhere that determines the sounds we hear.

From The Guardian • Jun. 6, 2010

Back then, as if to avoid eclipsing the day job, Albarn and illustrator Jamie Hewlett shrouded their so-called "virtual band" in all manner of multimedia gubbins.

From The Guardian • Apr. 29, 2010

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023