contrivance : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: contrivance	by the DICT Development Group
2 results for contrivance
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
contrivance n a device or control that is very useful for a particular job Synonym(s): appliance, contraption, contrivance, convenience, gadget, gizmo, gismo, widget the faculty of contriving; inventive skill; "his skillful contrivance of answers to every problem" an elaborate or deceitful scheme contrived to deceive or evade; "his testimony was just a contrivance to throw us off the track" Synonym(s): contrivance, stratagem, dodge an artificial or unnatural or obviously contrived arrangement of details or parts etc.; "the plot contained too many improbable contrivances to be believable" any improvised arrangement for temporary use Synonym(s): lash-up, contrivance the act of devising something Synonym(s): devisal, contrivance
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Contrivance \Contriv"ance\, n. 1. The act or faculty of contriving, inventing, devising, or planning. The machine which we are inspecting demonstrates, by its construction, contrivance* and design. Contrivance must have had a contriver. --Paley. 2. The thing contrived, invented, or planned; disposition of parts or causes by design; a scheme; plan; atrifice; arrangement. Government is a contrivance of human wisdom to provide for human wants. --Burke. Syn: Device; plan; scheme; invention; machine; project; design; artifice; shift. See {Device}.