gizmo
Americannoun
plural
gizmosnoun
Etymology
Origin of gizmo
First recorded in 1940–45; origin uncertain
Explanation
A gizmo is a device used for a specific job. A vacuum is a gizmo that cleans the floor. While gizmo often means an unknown object — like a thingamajig — a gizmo is any device that gets a job done. A phone is a gizmo for talking to people. A stove is a gizmo that cooks food. A hammer is a gizmo that pounds in nails. Gizmos are all man-made: a plant or animal can't be a gizmo. If you want to be an inventor, come up with an original gizmo.
Vocabulary lists containing gizmo
Vocabulary from the Songs of "The Little Mermaid"
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Katt vs. Dogg
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Ban This Book
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Comedy and tragedy customarily share space in “Star Trek” — “Section 31” begins with a quote from Aeschylus and includes an extended discussion over whether the gizmo they’re after is called “Godsend” or “God’s End.”
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 24, 2025
De Jaen crouches to fiddle with alligator clips and bits of wire, as well as six 100-watt light bulbs and a purple gizmo that looks like an electric waffle iron designed for children.
From Seattle Times • Jan. 26, 2024
One of his funniest early stories, “I Can Speak!,” parodied legalistic customer-relations language, in that case involving a gizmo that purported to translate baby talk.
From Washington Post • Oct. 21, 2022
In the Midlands, programmer Tomás McGuinness has designed a different gizmo that uses sensors to read the flow temperatures on his boiler.
From BBC • Oct. 3, 2022
Hey, Paine, can you take a bath with that ankle gizmo, or would you get all electrocuted?”
From "Flush" by Carl Hiaasen
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
