contrivance

views updated May 23 2018

con·triv·ance / kənˈtrīvəns/ • n. a thing that is created skillfully and inventively to serve a particular purpose: an assortment of electronic equipment and mechanical contrivances. ∎  the use of skill to bring something about or create something: the requirements of the system, by happy chance and some contrivance, can be summed up in an acronym. ∎  a device, esp. in literary or artistic composition, that gives a sense of artificiality.