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A contrivance for removing the pits from peaches, plums, and other stone fruit.

Contrivance; deep reach thought; ability to plot or intrigue. [Obs.] "A man of much plot." Denham.

air; as, pneumatic cells; pneumatic bones. Pneumatic action, or Pneumatic lever (Mus.), a contrivance for overcoming the resistance of the keys and other movable parts in an organ, by causing compressed air from the wind chest to move them. -- Pneumatic dispatch, a system of tubes, leading to various points, through w…

A contrivance to prevent an animal from leaping or breaking through fences. It consists of a yoke with a pole inserted, pointed forward. [U.S.] Poke bonnet, a bonnet with a straight, projecting front.

Skillful or artful management; dexterity in contrivance or the use of means; art; stratagem; artifice; plot; -- usually in a bad sense. [Obs.] Bacon. He sought to have that by practice which he could not by prayer. Sir P. Sidney.

Efficient contrivance; management; agency. They think it done By her procurement. Dryden.

The act of scheming or planning; also, that which is planned; contrivance; design; plan. Davenant.

Design; contrivance; projection. [Obs.] Clarendon.

A contrivance for propelling a steam vessel, usually consisting of a screw placed in the stern under water, and made to revolve by an engine; a propeller wheel.

t the inclemency of the weather; to provide for the education of a child. Government is a contrivance of human wisdom to provide for human wants. Burke.

Effected by, or referable to, divine direction or superintendence; as, the providential contrivance of thing; a providential escape. -- Prov"i*den"tial*ly, adv.

A contrivance employed by the ancient Peruvians, Mexicans, etc., as a substitute for writing and figures, consisting of a main cord, from which hung at certain distances smaller cords of various colors, each having a special meaning, as silver, gold, corn, soldiers. etc. Single, double, and triple knots were tied in th…

A contrivance for exhibiting and measuring the refraction of light.

An expedient to secure protection or defense; a device or contrivance. Their latest refuge Was to send him. Shak. Light must be supplied, among gracefulrefuges, by terracing Sir H. Wotton. Cities of refuge (Jewish Antiq.), certain cities appointed as places of safe refuge for persons who had committed homicide without…

A contrivance for regulating and controlling motion, as: (a) The lever or index in a watch, which controls the effective length of the hairspring, and thus regulates the vibrations of the balance. (b) The governor of a steam engine. (c) A valve for controlling the admission of steam to the steam chest, in a locomotive.…

A contrivance for adjusting or regulating the strength of electrical currents, operating usually by the intercalation of resistance which can be varied at will. Wheatstone. --Rhe`o*stat"ic, a.

A contrivance for roasting.

A contrivance or arrangement serving as a fulcrum for an oar in rowing. It consists sometimes of a notch in the gunwale of a boat, sometimes of a pair of pins between which the oar rests on the edge of the gunwale, sometimes of a single pin passing through the oar, or of a metal fork or stirrup pivoted in the gunwale a…

etc., guided by a rule or ruler; to print or mark with lines by means of a rule or other contrivance effecting a similar result; as, to rule a sheet of paper of a blank book. Ruled surface (Geom.), any surface that may be described by a straight line moving according to a given law; -- called also a scroll.…

Full of, or ready with, shifts; fertile in expedients or contrivance. Wright. Shifty and thrifty as old Greek or modern Scot, there were few things he could not invent, and perhaps nothing he could not endure. C. Kingsley.