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Definition of Contrivance
1. Noun. A device or control that is very useful for a particular job.
Generic synonyms: Device
Specialized synonyms: Gadgetry, Gimbal, Injector, Mod Con
Derivative terms: Convenient, Gadgeteer
2. Noun. The faculty of contriving; inventive skill. "His skillful contrivance of answers to every problem"
3. Noun. An elaborate or deceitful scheme contrived to deceive or evade. "His testimony was just a contrivance to throw us off the track"
Generic synonyms: Scheme, Strategy
Specialized synonyms: Plant, Pump-and-dump Scheme, Wangle, Wangling
Derivative terms: Dodgy
4. Noun. An artificial or unnatural or obviously contrived arrangement of details or parts etc.. "The plot contained too many improbable contrivances to be believable"
5. Noun. Any improvised arrangement for temporary use.
6. Noun. The act of devising something.
Definition of Contrivance
1. n. The act or faculty of contriving, inventing, devising, or planning.
Definition of Contrivance
1. Noun. a (mechanical) device to perform a certain task ¹
2. Noun. a means, such as an elaborate plan or strategy, to accomplish a certain objective ¹
3. Noun. something overly artful or artificial ¹
¹ Source: wiktionary.com
Definition of Contrivance
1. [n -S]
Lexicographical Neighbors of Contrivance
Literary usage of Contrivance
Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:
1. The Reign of Law by George Douglas Campbell Argyll (1873)
"THE necessity of contrivance for the accomplishment of Purpose arises out of the
immutability of Natural Forces. They must be conformed to, and obeyed. ..."
2. A Dictionary of Slang, Jargon & Cant: Embracing English, American, and Anglo by Albert Barrère, Charles Godfrey Leland (1889)
"In conjuring, any mechanical contrivance for the performance of a trick. So also
in a show, if, for example, an apparently ordinary ..."
3. United States Supreme Court Reports by Lawyers Co-operative Publishing Company, United States Supreme Court (1912)
"They replied to me to get all the evidence рое- 24 How. of her father and mother,
and it was attempted by a contrivance as extraordinary in its beginning as ..."
4. Essays, Political, Economical, and Philosophical by Benjamin Rumford (1802)
"An account of a contrivance for preventing metallic STEAM-TUBES from being injured
by the alternate ..."
5. The Harleian Miscellany; Or, A Collection of Scarce, Curious, and by William Oldys, John Malham (1810)
"A RELATION OF THE LATE WICKED contrivance OP STEPHEN BLACKHEAD AND ROBERT YOUNG,
Against the Lives of several Persons, by forging an Association under their ..."
6. Sun Dials and Roses of Yesterday: Garden Delights which are Here Displayed by Alice Morse Earle (1902)
"Unfortunately this contrivance does not show in the illustration. A similar
arrangement may be found on a sun-dial at Monaco, where one is gravely told that ..."
Other Resources:
