widget

[wij-it]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR widget ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a small mechanical device, as a knob or switch, especially one whose name is not known or cannot be recalled; gadget: a row of widgets on the instrument panel.

something considered typical or representative, as of a manufacturer's products: the widgets coming off the assembly line.

Digital Technology. a module on a website, in an application, or in the interface of a device that allows users to access information or perform a function: I added a weather widget to my screen.

Origin of widget

First recorded in 1925–30; perhaps alteration of gadget

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for widget

gizmo, contraption, object, apparatus, thing, doohickey, doodad, appliance, device, invention, contrivance, thingamajig, tool, whatchamacallit, thingamabob

Examples from the Web for widget

Contemporary Examples of widget

The Dazeem sensation arguably hit its peak with the Slate Adele Dazeem Name Generator, a widget designed to Travoltify any name.
John Travolta and the Birth of the Adele Dazeem Phenomenon
Amy Zimmerman
March 5, 2014
Alternatively, stick right here and follow the chat in the widget below.
Christopher Dickey, Author of Newsweek's 'The Maid's Tale,' to Host Twitter Chat
July 25, 2011

British Dictionary definitions for widget

widget

noun

informal any small mechanism or device, the name of which is unknown or temporarily forgotten

a small device in a beer can which, when the can is opened, releases nitrogen gas into the beer, giving it a head

a small computer program that can be installed on and executed from the desktop of a personal computer

Word Origin for widget

C20: changed from gadget

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 widget

"gadget, small manufactured item," c.1920, American English, probably an alteration of gadget, perhaps based on which it.