contrivance

[Eng. contriv ( e ); -ance.] 1. The act of contriving, designing, or planning anything for a particular purpose. ". one, whose bold contrivances and skiil." Words worth: Excursion, bk. vii. 2. A disposition of parts, an arrangement, plan, or design. "Contrivance intricate expre 'd with ease, Where una isted sight no beauty sees." Cowper: Retirement. 3. A device, plan, or scheme contrived for an end; an apparatus. and apart from this, they have a motive to labor more a iduously, and adopt contrivances for making their labor more effectual." -J. S. Mill: Polit. Econ. (1848), vol. i., bk. i., ch. viii., § 2, p. 143. 4. An artifice, plot, or scheme. "There might be a feint, a contrivance in the matter, to draw him into some secret ambush." -Atterbury . For the difference between contrivance and device , see DEVICE.