How to Use contraption in a Sentence

contraption

noun
  • The people wondered how the contraption worked.
  • The mise en place of my cup, spoon, and pour-over contraption.
    — Chris Schalkx, Condé Nast Traveler, 3 Aug. 2021
  • The contraption comes with one air-tight lid that goes on the top pan in the stack.
    — Kelly Allen, House Beautiful, 28 Jan. 2020
  • The mice pop out, and the whole contraption dangles in the trees.
    — Seth Borenstein, The Seattle Times, 28 Apr. 2017
  • This handy contraption is a classy way to tote around your favorite six-pack.
    — Mark Stock, Men's Health, 19 Sep. 2022
  • The man held a large oblong contraption.
    — E. Tammy Kim, New Yorker, 26 Jan. 2026
  • But can someone build a contraption that could carry me up to the top?
    — CBS News, 25 Feb. 2018
  • If only one elephant pulls an end, the rope slides out of the contraption.
    — Katherine Harmon Courage, Scientific American, 23 May 2017
  • And a bump stock is a simple enough contraption that some people can make their own.
    — Robert Verbruggen, National Review, 5 Oct. 2017
  • There’s no telling when and if Vivo will launch such a contraption.
    — Chris Smith, BGR, 1 July 2021
  • Not some simple planks and nails contraption affixed to a low branch, mind you.
    — Marco Della Cava, USA Today, 2 Apr. 2025
  • One loose bolt or misplaced screw is enough to grind the entire contraption to a halt.
    — Robert Mays, New York Times, 26 Oct. 2025
  • One of the team members sketched plans for their pulley-like contraption in black ink.
    — Arkansas Online, 15 July 2021
  • Some of these contraptions even come with a phone app that reminds you when to water your seedlings.
    — Paul Cappiello, Louisville Courier Journal, 12 Dec. 2025
  • The slot for the tape popped up from the body of the contraption like the escape pod of a flying saucer.
    — Melissa Francis, Country Living, 18 Apr. 2017
  • Fill a bottle with clear but dirty water, then plunge in a strange contraption that fills it with light.
    — Outdoor Life, 16 Mar. 2020
  • But with the high-tech scanning contraption, these researchers have brought new life to old stains.
    — Tom Avril, Philly.com, 14 May 2018
  • But these contraptions were so bulky that users had to hold them with their hands or wear them within headbands.
    — IEEE Spectrum, 7 Jan. 2026
  • Godfrey got the idea to alter a toy football and add that to the contraption.
    — Matt Wake | [email protected], al.com, 18 June 2019
  • One of Herbert’s contraptions is a short rope with a handle on each end.
    — Daniel Popper, The Athletic, 9 Jan. 2025
  • The sweet, young blasted-to-pieces kids are hooked up to contraptions or lie there too depressed to even blink.
    — Literary Hub, 11 Aug. 2025
  • There are all sorts of variations on this contraption, but the basic recipe is the same.
    — The Editors, Field & Stream, 8 Oct. 2020
  • But most of all, parents should keep an eye on their kids and get them out fast if the contraption starts to collapse.
    — Elisabeth Leamy, chicagotribune.com, 13 July 2017
  • This great whizzing contraption could be put into the service of the nation.
    — vanityfair.com, 6 July 2017
  • Instead of the sticks or drinking straws used with apes, the ravens got small rocks as tools to open the boxy contraption.
    — William Wan, Washington Post, 13 July 2017
  • But the contraption failed to catch on, perhaps because smells could travel back up the pipe.
    — Amanda Foreman, WSJ, 9 June 2022
  • So tell us about this crazy firework–arrow contraption that Leah lights off at the very end.
    — Dalton Ross, EW.com, 11 Oct. 2021
  • Once the contraption was in place, tilting his wrist up caused his arm to raise, bending at the elbow.
    — San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 June 2019
  • One group is riding a vehicle equipped with a strange cage-like contraption.
    — Ivana Kottasová, CNN Money, 16 Nov. 2025
  • The entire contraption weighs less than two pounds and packs into a small mesh bag about the size of a sneaker.
    — Wes Siler, Outside Online, 29 Mar. 2021

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'contraption.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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