strange, complicated, or homemade machines or devices, often makeshift and somewhat unreliable.
From Latin contra (against) and the root of trap, possibly influenced by contrapere (to deceive). The word combines the idea of something working against itself—a trap-like mechanism.
The word 'contraption' became popular in American English in the 1800s when inventors everywhere were building crazy mechanical devices, and people loved this slightly sarcastic-sounding word for machines that seemed too elaborate or weird to actually work.
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