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contrive - 5 dictionary results

con⋅trive

  [kuhn-trahyv] verb, -trived, -triv⋅ing.
Use contrive in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to plan with ingenuity; devise; invent: The author contrived a clever plot.
2. to bring about or effect by a plan, scheme, or the like; manage: He contrived to gain their votes.
3. to plot (evil, treachery, etc.).
–verb (used without object)
4. to form designs; plan.
5. to plot.
Origin:
1275–1325; ME contreven < MF contreuv-, tonic s. of controver to devise, invent, OF: to decide, agree upon < LL contropāre to compare, equiv. to con- con- + *tropāre (> F trouver to find; see trover ); development of vowel unclear

Related forms:
con⋅triv⋅a⋅ble, adjective
con⋅triv⋅er, noun

Synonyms:
1. design, concoct. See prepare. 3. conspire, scheme. 5. connive.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To contrive
con·trive   (kən-trīv')   
v.   con·trived, con·triv·ing, con·trives

v.   tr.
  1. To plan with cleverness or ingenuity; devise: contrive ways to amuse the children.
  2. To invent or fabricate, especially by improvisation: contrived a swing from hanging vines.
  3. To plan with evil intent; scheme: contrived a plot to seize power.
  4. To bring about, as by scheming; manage: somehow contrived to get past the guards unnoticed.
v.   intr.
To form plans or schemes.

[Middle English contreven, from Old French controver, contreuv-, from Medieval Latin contropāre, to compare : Latin com-, com- + Latin tropus, turn, manner, style (from Greek tropos; see trep- in Indo-European roots).]
con·triv'er n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Contrive

Con*trive"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Contrived; p. pr. & vb. n. Contriving.] [OE. contriven, contreven, controven, to invent, OF. controver, contruver; con- + trouver to find. See Troubadour, trover.] To form by an exercise of ingenuity; to devise; to invent; to design; to plan.

What more likely to contrive this admirable frame of the universe than infinite wisdom. --Tillotson.

neither do thou imagine that I shall contrive aught against his life. --Hawthorne.

Syn: To invent; discover; plan; design; project; plot; concert; hatch.

Contrive

Con*trive"\, v. i. To make devices; to form designs; to plan; to scheme; to plot.

The Fates with traitors do contrive. --Shak.

Thou hast contrived against th very life Of the defendant. --Shak.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : contrive
Spanish: ideárselas, ingeniárselas para,
German: zustandebringen,
Japanese: うまく～する
More Translations »

contrive 
c.1325, from O.Fr. controver "to find out, contrive, imagine," from V.L. contropare "to compare" (via a figure of speech), from L. com- "with" + tropus "song, musical mode," from Gk. tropos "figure of speech" (see trope). Sense evolution (in Fr.) was from "invent with ingenuity" to "invent falsely."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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