gizmo

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Slang for any hardware device. See gadget and Gizmodo.

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Novelty item used as a gimmick.

also gismo

noun

A small specialized mechanical device: concern, contraption, contrivance, gadget, gimmick, jigger, thing. Informal doodad, doohickey, widget. See machine.

Origin: 1942

How did we win the war? Well, we had the right gizmo when we needed it. The term is an honorable American invention, like doodad (1877) and doohickey (1914), the latter a Navy word that helped us win World War I. A couple of decades later, when we had to make the world safe for democracy all over again, we added to our arsenal both whatchamacallit (1942) and the modern gizmo.

Nobody knows where gizmo came from, but we think the Marines told it to us. The evidence is from two articles, both published in November 1942. Leatherneck magazine explained, "When you need a word for something in a hurry and can't think of one, it's a gizmo." And Yank that month agreed: "Leathernecks...even have a name for a whatsis. They call it a 'gizmo.'" Gizmo survived the transition to civilian life and has become an indispensable verbal tool of modern technological civilization.

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IN BRIEF: n. - A device or control that is very useful for a particular job; Something unspecified whose name is either forgotten or not known.

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noun
/'gɪzməυ/ Also gizmo /'gɪzməυ/
Also gizmo
noun, orig and mainly US

A gadget, thingumajig. (1943 —) .
New Yorker Every gismo that made use of a clothes hanger will be demonstrated by its inventor (1970).

[Origin unknown.]

Previous:	gism, gipsy, gippy tummy
Next:	git, give, glad eye

For a list of words related to gizmo, see:

• Machinery and Mechanical Devices - gizmo: Informal. device or gadget
• Nonsense Words and Cutesies

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See words rhyming with "gizmo."

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - dims, himstregims

Nederlands (Dutch)
dingetje, foefje

Français (French)
n. - truc, machin, gadget

Deutsch (German)
n. - (ugs.) Ding, Vorrichtung, Apparat

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (καθομ.) μαραφέτι

Italiano (Italian)
aggeggio

Português (Portuguese)
n. - dispositivo (m) mecânico ou peça (f) de nome desconhecido ou esquecido (Téc.)

Русский (Russian)
штуковина, приспособление

Español (Spanish)
n. - artilugio, chisme

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - grej

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
小发明

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 小發明

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 신기한 장치

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 仕掛け, 何とかいうもの

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) اداة‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮מכשיר פלא, פטנט‬

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