contraption

<font size="-1" face="arial, helvetica"> <p> <strong> <font color="#000066">Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 15, 2023 is:</font> </strong> </p> <p> <strong>contraption</strong> &#149; \kun-TRAP-shun\&nbsp; &#149; <em>noun</em><br /> <p>A <em>contraption</em> is a usually mechanical or electronic <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/device">device</a> or <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gadget">gadget</a>.</p> <p>// The students worked as a team to create a <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Rube%20Goldberg">Rube Goldberg</a> <em>contraption</em> that can fill a pet food bowl at the press of a lever. </p> <p><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/contraption">See the entry ></a></p> </p> <p> <strong>Examples:</strong><br /> <p>“In October of last year, an enormous new creature appeared on the seabed of the Pacific Ocean, about 1,400 miles southwest of San Diego. It was a remote-controlled, 90-ton machine the size of a small house, lowered from an industrial ship on a cable nearly 3 miles long. Once it was settled on the ocean floor, the black, white, and Tonka-truck-yellow <em>contraption</em> began grinding its way forward, its lights <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lance#h2">lancing</a> through the darkness, steel treads biting into the silt.” — Vince Beister, <em>WIRED</em>, 28 Feb. 2023</p> </p> <p> <strong>Did you know?</strong><br /> <p>In the words of one Little Mermaid, “I’ve got <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gadget">gadgets</a> and <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gizmo">gizmos</a> a-plenty.” It would have been on-theme (though perhaps a bit clunky) for the aquatic princess to include in her <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/siren%20song">siren song</a> the word <em>contraption</em>. Synonymous with both <em>gadget</em> and <em>gizmo</em>, and <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictiona