contraption
nounUK, US /kənˈtɹæp.ʃən/
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.
1
A machine that is complicated and precarious.
2
Derogatory, Figuratively, Ironic Any object.
- “Yes, sir, if that was the language of love, I'll eat my hat,” said the blood relation, alluding, I took it, to the beastly straw contraption in which she does her gardening, concerning which I can only say that it is almost as foul as Uncle Tom's Sherlock Holmes deerstalker, which has frightened more crows than any other lid in Worcestershire.1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XII, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC:
- Synonyms
- contrivance, device, fandango, gadget, mechanism, construction
- Derived terms
- contraptionary, contraptor