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A small mechanical device or control; a gadget.
An unnamed or hypothetical manufactured article.
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[Perhaps alteration of gadget.]
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Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
widget
n : a device that very useful for a particular job [syn: appliance, contraption, contrivance, convenience, gadget, gizmo]
Source: WordNet ® 1.6, © 1997 Princeton University
widget
1. A meta-thing. Used to stand for a real object in didactic
examples (especially database tutorials). Legend has it that
the original widgets were holders for buggy whips. "But
suppose the parts list for a widget has 52 entries..."
2. [possibly evoking "window gadget"] In graphical user
interfaces, a combination of a graphic symbol and some program
code to perform a specific function. E.g. a scroll-bar or
button. Windowing systems usually provide widget libraries
containing commonly used widgets drawn in a certain style and
with consistent behaviour.