widget
[wij-it]
- 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.
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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. 2018
Related Words
gizmocontraptionobjectapparatusthingdoohickeydoodadappliancedeviceinventioncontrivancethingamajigtoolwhatchamacallitthingamabobExamples from the Web for widget
Contemporary Examples
The Dazeem sensation arguably hit its peak with the Slate Adele Dazeem Name Generator, a widget designed to Travoltify any name.
Alternatively, stick right here and follow the chat in the widget below.
widget
- 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
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Word Origin
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
n.
"gadget, small manufactured item," c.1920, American English, probably an alteration of gadget, perhaps based on which it.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper