From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
contraption
n 1: a device or control that is very useful for a particular
job [syn: appliance, contraption, contrivance,
convenience, gadget, gizmo, gismo, widget]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Contraption \Con*trap"tion\, n.
A contrivance; a new-fangled device; -- used scornfully.
[Colloq. or Dial.] -- Con*trap"tious, a.
We all remember some of the extraordinary contraptions
which have been thus evolved and put upon the market.
--F. M. Ware.
[Webster 1913 Suppl.]