contrive
verb (used with object)
to plan with ingenuity; devise; invent.
was contriving
-
past progressiveof contrive.past progressive
Used to describe an ongoing action or continuous state that was happening at a specific time in the past.
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.
I was contriving with Talf'd to meet you 1/2 way at his chamber.
From The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb — Volume 6 Letters 1821-1842 by Lamb, Mary
Agnes was contriving in her mind all the morning, how she should present the needle-case to her mother, and wondering how it would be received.
From Lewie Or, The Bended Twig by Bradford, Sarah H. (Sarah Hopkins)
Odysseus was by nature a very shrewd and cautious man, and he feared that Calypso was contriving some mischief against him, in revenge for his coldness.
From Stories from the Odyssey by Havell, H. L. (Herbert Lord)
This was the business that Seward was contriving, that Lincoln would not explain, on April first.
From Lincoln; An Account of his Personal Life, Especially of its Springs of Action as Revealed and Deepened by the Ordeal of War by Stephenson, Nathaniel W. (Nathaniel Wright)
Seymour was very jealous of all this greatness, and was contriving every means in his power to circumvent and supersede his brother.
From Queen Elizabeth Makers of History by Abbott, Jacob
