Contrivances - English meaning

noun

Clever or cunning devices or expedients, especially as used to trick or deceive others.

Usage examples:

An industry dominated by artifice

noun

(the use of) a clever trick or something intended to deceive

Usage examples:

Amazingly for hollywood, she seems almost entirely without artifice.

noun

A thing made or adapted for a particular purpose, especially a piece of mechanical or electronic equipment.

Usage examples:

A measuring device

noun

An object or machine that has been invented to fulfill a particular purpose

Usage examples:

A handheld device, a safety device, electronic/mechanical devices, he invented a device for measuri…

noun

An object or machine which has been invented for a particular purpose

Usage examples:

Biotech and medical devices, you should not use any personal electronic device, such as a cell phon…

adjective

(of an action) convenient and practical although possibly improper or immoral.

Usage examples:

Either side could break the agreement if it were expedient to do so

noun

A means of attaining an end, especially one that is convenient but possibly improper or immoral.

Usage examples:

The current policy is a political expedient

adjective

Helpful or useful in a particular situation, and without considering any moral question that might influence your decision

Usage examples:

We thought it expedient not to pay the builder until he finished the work., political expediency

verb

Go for and then bring back (someone or something) for someone.

Usage examples:

He ran to fetch help

noun

The distance travelled by wind or waves across open water.

Usage examples:

Wave disturbance was estimated by measuring the fetch for wave height on maps as the width of the r…

noun

The apparition or double of a living person, formerly believed to be a warning of that person's impending death.

Usage examples:

I saw a fetch who looked like me

noun

An act or remark that is calculated to gain an advantage, especially at the outset of a situation.

Usage examples:

His resignation was a tactical gambit

noun

Something that you do or say that is intended to achieve an advantage and usually involves taking a risk

Usage examples:

The arrest of the political leader was seen as the opening gambit in a move to take control of the …

verb

Be or remain hidden so as to wait in ambush for someone or something.

Usage examples:

A ruthless killer still lurked in the darkness

noun

A profitable stratagem; a dodge or scheme.

Usage examples:

You'll soon learn the lurks and perks

noun

A plot or scheme.

Usage examples:

But hollinghurst doesn't rely on tabloid-inspired plot machinations to keep the book's engine ticki…

noun

A movement or series of moves requiring skill and care.

Usage examples:

Snowboarders performed daring manoeuvres on precipitous slopes

verb

Move skilfully or carefully.

Usage examples:

The lorry was unable to manoeuvre comfortably in the narrow street

noun

A planned action that is intended to get an advantage

Usage examples:

This manoeuvre has the effect of rewarding those shareholders who sell at the expense of those who …

verb

Go in a specified direction or manner; change position.

Usage examples:

She moved to the door

noun

A change of place, position, or state.

Usage examples:

She made a sudden move towards me

verb

Change location

noun

A detailed proposal for doing or achieving something.

Usage examples:

The un peace plan

verb

Decide on and make arrangements for in advance.

Usage examples:

They were planning a trip to egypt

verb

A series of steps to be carried out or goals to be achieved

noun

A plan made in secret by a group of people to do something illegal or harmful.

Usage examples:

They have been jailed for their part in a plot to defraud a swiss bank

verb

Secretly make plans to carry out (an illegal or harmful action).

Usage examples:

The two men are serving sentences for plotting a bomb campaign

noun

A secret plan to do something that is wrong, harmful, or illegal

Usage examples:

The police discovered a plot to rob the bank., the novel has a complicated plot that is sometimes d…

noun

A cunning plan or action designed to turn a situation to one's own advantage.

Usage examples:

This was widely interpreted as a ploy to buy time in order to consolidate his position

noun

An action intended to deceive someone; a trick.

Usage examples:

Emma tried to think of a ruse to get paul out of the house

proper noun

An industrial city and the principal port of bulgaria, on the river danube; population 156,959 (2008). turkish during the middle ages, it was captured by russia in 1877 and ceded to bulgaria.

noun

A large-scale systematic plan or arrangement for attaining a particular object or putting a particular idea into effect.

Usage examples:

The occupational sick pay scheme

verb

Make plans, especially in a devious way or with intent to do something illegal or wrong.

Usage examples:

Envious of their wealth, he schemed to bring about their downfall

noun

A plan for doing or organizing something

Usage examples:

The committee came up with a creative fundraising scheme., the yellow and white color scheme bright…

verb

Move or cause to move from one place to another, especially over a small distance.

Usage examples:

A team from the power company came to shift the cables away from the house

noun

A slight change in position, direction, or tendency.

Usage examples:

A shift in public opinion

verb

Move very slightly

noun

A plan or scheme, especially one used to outwit an opponent or achieve an end.

Usage examples:

A series of devious stratagems

noun

A plan or trick to achieve something

Usage examples:

Barry devised several stratagems for escape.

noun

Deceit used in order to achieve one's goal.

Usage examples:

He had to use subterfuge and bluff on many occasions

noun

An action taken to hide something from someone

Usage examples:

[ u ] his excuse sounded more like subterfuge than a real reason.

noun

An action or strategy carefully planned to achieve a specific end.

Usage examples:

The minority attempted to control the council by a delaying tactic

noun

A specific action intended to get a particular result

Usage examples:

Oliver’s clumsy tactics doomed the plan from the start.

noun

A planned method for achieving a particular result

Usage examples:

I think we'll have to change our marketing tactics., the tactics used by the salesman made her unco…

noun

A cunning act or scheme intended to deceive or outwit someone.

Usage examples:

He's a double-dealer capable of any mean trick

verb

Cunningly deceive or outwit.

Usage examples:

Many people have been tricked by villains with false identity cards

adjective

Intended or used to deceive or mystify, or to create an illusion.

Usage examples:

A trick question

verb

Breathe with a whistling or rattling sound in the chest, as a result of obstruction in the air passages.

Usage examples:

The illness often leaves her wheezing

noun

A wheezing sound.

Usage examples:

I talk with a wheeze

verb

To make a noise while breathing because of some breathing difficulty

Usage examples:

Since i started exercising regularly, i no longer wheeze when i run for a train.

noun

Devious or cunning stratagems employed in manipulating or persuading someone to do what one wants.

Usage examples:

She didn't employ any feminine wiles to capture his attention

verb

Lure; entice.

Usage examples:

She could be neither driven nor wiled into the parish kirk

adjective

Very bad; terrible.

Usage examples:

He was wile when he was young