Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A small specialized mechanical or electronic device; a contrivance.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun obsolete a thing whose name cannot be remembered; thingamajig, doohickey
  • noun any device or machine, especially one whose name cannot be recalled. Often either clever or complicated.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a device or control that is very useful for a particular job

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Origin unknown.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Unknown. First used in print by Robert Brown in 1886 (see quote in definition section). Might come from French gâchette or gagée.

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Examples

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  • Look out! Gidget's got a gadget!

    April 10, 2008