contraption
noun/kənˈtɹæp.ʃən/UK
Etymology
Possibly a Western US English dialectal word of unknown origin. First attested in the early 19th century. Perhaps from contrive + trap + -tion, while also possibly approximating construction. Chambers suggests contrivance + adaption. Neither Chambers nor Concise Oxford suggests a US origin. Compare cantrip, cantrap (Scots dialect), a wilful piece of trickery.
- derived from dialect)
Definitions
A machine that is complicated and precarious.
Any object.
The neighborhood
- synonymcontrivancemechanical device
- synonymdevicemechanical device
- synonymfandangomechanical device
- synonymgadgetmechanical device
- synonymmechanismmechanical device
- synonymconstructionmechanical device
Derived
Vish — recursive loop
No curated loop yet for contraption. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.
sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA