- contrivance
- I(New American Roget's College Thesaurus)n. device, invention, construction, machine, apparatus, contraption (inf.); plan, scheme, trick, stratagem. See instrumentality, cunning.II(Roget's IV) n.1. [A plan, especially an ingenious plan]Syn. expedient, stratagem, scheme, artifice; see plan 2 .2. [A mechanical device]Syn. appliance, mechanism, gadget, invention, apparatus, gear, implement, discovery, instrument, tool, machine, engine, convenience, contraption, utensil, harness, material, tackle, equipment, creation, brainchild*, thingamajig*, thingamabob*, doohickey*, dingus*; see also device 1 , equipment , tool 1 .III(Roget's 3 Superthesaurus) n.1. device gadget, creation, appliance, mechanism, machine, contraption, implement, invention, *Rube Goldberg device.2. design scheme, invention, artifice, fabrication, machination, ingenuity, trick.IV(Roget's Thesaurus II) noun 1. Something, as a machine, devised for a particular function: apparatus, appliance, contraption, device. See MACHINE. 2. A small specialized mechanical device: concern, contraption, gadget, gimmick, jigger, thing. Informal: doodad, doohickey, widget. Slang: gizmo. See MACHINE. 3. Something invented: brainchild, device, invention. See MACHINE, MAKE.
English dictionary for students. 2013.