Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A mechanical device; a gadget.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A device; a contrivance: used slightingly.
Wiktionary
- n. A machine that is complicated and precarious.
- n. figuratively Any object.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. Colloq. or Dial. A contrivance; a new-fangled device; -- used scornfully.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a device or control that is very useful for a particular job
Etymologies
- Originally a Western US English dialectical word. Unknown origin. Perhaps from contrive + trap + -tion (Wiktionary)
- Perhaps mock-Latinate blend of contrive and trap1. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“The script provides an admirable fulcrum for such musings with the title contraption -- run by a former Tibetan monk (Christopher Plummer) who cut a deal with the devil (Tom Waits), and which now reveals the dreams and temptations of those who venture into it.”
“That "contraption" is a very handsome tricycle with a VW engine.”
“I'm talking about the obvious failure of VSE, ESAS, Constellation, Ares I and V and Orion and whatever that lunar lander contraption is called.”
“This crazy contraption is a wearable sensor unit that uploads its data onto pachube, a kind of info-collection network.”
“The sheer genius of the mechanical contraption is what has always drawn my attention.”
“This crazy contraption is slated to be Australia's very first carbon neutral office building!”
Crazy Pixel Building to Be Australia's First Carbon Neutral Office | Inhabitat
“But, seriously, this divine pizza-making contraption is effing coo-el.”
“Created by boffins at Massachusetts University of Technology (MIT), the contraption is described as “an immersive architectural solution for the advanced WoW (World of Warcraft) player that provides and anticipates all life needs”.”
“This fine contraption is called the ultimate hair pulley Well little boys use to use it to pull little girls hair with, they never got in trouble because they were not actually touching the little girl, however it backfired when the little girl got ahold of it and tortured the little boy ...”
“Because the whole contraption is in the laundry room, I'm contemplating adding a quiet computer case fan as an exhaust and tying it into the dryer's exhaust. maxtheape rogsim”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘contraption’.
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-tion
vacation, suggestion, donation, condition, education, examination, federation, generation, imagination, invention, operation, pollution and 166 more...
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It's a trap
trap, gin, snare, deadfall, trapezium, trapezoid, trappist, venus flytrap, foothold trap, trapping pit, glue trap, trap set and 98 more...
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Steampunk
Words used quite often in steampunk
ansible, airship, chymical, valve, clockwork, dirigible, thaumaturgy, copper, bronze, difference engine, gear, rivets and 523 more...
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Your Mission: Find theTraps
List of words that contain the letter string *trap*. Some are obvious and apparent, such as trapezoid, while others are a bit less apparent, such as contrapuntist, ultraphysical, and intraperitoneal.
trapezoid, contrapuntist, wentletrap, allotetraploid, bootstrap, caltrap, unstrap, Trappist, ultraphysical, trapline, Trapt, autotetraploidy and 195 more...
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apt
apt, rapt, inapt, leapt, aptitude, chapter, capture, rapture, velociraptor, captivate, captious, caption and 77 more...
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WOOZ
Words contained in the screenplay of Wizard of Oz, 1939 film.
Comments show the actual "line" from the film.
The words are tagged for grade-levelpusillanimous, genuflect, cataclysmic, vernacular, peasantry, aver, caliginous, tedious, advent, careworn, bovine, commodity and 34 more...
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the first list
an immense, grandiloquent list that loads like a thousand years sentence in stone. new words are in the other lists.
ridiculous, brummagem, predicament, sanctimonious, vapid, eschew, admonish, auspicious, capitulation, enumerate, lachrymose, tenet and 1648 more...
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ChortleGiggleSnort
Significant Words- Guiding you on your path to Snazzibility
flimsy, feeble, ranting, ramble, narky, snazzy, yoghurt, bulbous, pustule, globulous, geranium, megalomaniac and 521 more...
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Zamboni Palin
My imaginary lexicon for future megastar and visionary Zamboni Palin.
strewth, curple, speshly, ugly tree, whupping, nar'n, swain, sneezeweed, sciencey, snarleyyow, jackpudding, squanch and 304 more...
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Personal Vocabulary List
All my favourite words that I come across!
veritable, incongruence, rigamorole, letcherous, revolting, repulsive, reputrid, rapatious, forays, guise, placate, paradigm and 1162 more...
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Mollusque's miscellany
A mixture of words that I like or have commented on, along with ones parked here so they'd be listed somewhere or remind me of lists I want to make.
oranger, monographer, preoccupied, bu, bobization, coinventor, tetrapyloctomy, borgmannian, suspercollate, manhug, mancrush, obituarist and 604 more...
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Words that delight me
tepid, perfunctory, trope, benign, inordinate, bewildering, ersatz, boon, delectable, apt, scuttlebutt, sequester and 398 more...
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A spoonful of sugar
Words I should learn/I want to learn/I just learned, with a quotation to help the medicine go down.
approbation, assuage, chicanery, abscond, effrontery, enervation, equivocate, ennui, aftertaste, filibuster, perfunctory, abide and 391 more...
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5-0
Hecko, words! I’m so happy I’ve found you. I want to keep you all and never want to lose you again. I hope you like it here.
amscray, thistledown, tine, tinsel, pungent, snarl, wail, lanky, viscid, dawdle, luminous, stow and 2719 more...
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oneasterism's words
Words that I like, that I don't use often enough, that are new to me, that friends and family have taught me, and so on.
lugubrious, reticent, eschelon, missive, penchant, copious, conspicuous, tranquil, redolent, asinine, inane, dilatory and 625 more...
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Turning and Twisting Tours
words in the nature of double spirals
swift, swerve, swirl, swivel, swarm, swag, swank, swoop, swinge, swarf, spire, esparto and 361 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for contraption.
dbekeny AUNT EM
I saw you tinkering with that contraption,
Hickory. Now, you and Hunk get back to that
wagon!
Jun 10, 2010
ç�lä±é¯s The fastest 1957 Chevy Pick Up in the world. Aug 4, 2009
Telofy I see some kind of intricate device used in the field of creative plumbing aka subversive plumbing (see Brazil). Surely your contraption has such a contraption built into it somewhere. Aug 2, 2009
plethora I like the tiger print seats. Nice touch. Aug 2, 2009
PossibleUnderscore *Keeps misreading this page as contraception*
That's an awesome vehicle! Note to self: must somehow acquire the contraption for future use. Aug 2, 2009
mollusque Ears back for speed? Aug 2, 2009
reesetee By God, bilby, that is a contraption! Aug 1, 2009
frogapplause Did I mention pulleys? Lots and lots of pulleys!! Jul 31, 2009
frogapplause I've always pictured it as something with belts and ropes and levers and GEARS used to flatten oversize leathery EARS. Jul 31, 2009
bilby My mental image of contraption is often some kind of vehicle. Jul 31, 2009