widget
English edit
Pronunciation edit
Etymology 1 edit
Coined by American playwright George S. Kaufman in 1924 in his play Beggar on Horseback (1924).
Noun edit
widget (plural widgets)
- A placeholder name for an unnamed, unspecified, or hypothetical manufactured good or product, typically as an example for purposes of explaining concepts.
- Synonyms: thingy, gizmo, sprocket; see also Thesaurus:thingy
- Suppose we have a widget factory that produces 100 units per year...
- 2020 August 12, Nigel Harris, “Comment: Rail at the brink? Not yet...”, in Rail, page 3:
- Damage inflicted on the rail industry supply chain, from major contractors to widget manufacturers, would have further profound nationwide consequences on an already damaged industry and wrecked economy.
- A floating device inside a beer can, meant to create foam when opened.
- A small scraping tool consisting of a blade and a handle, commonly used to remove paint from glass and other smooth surfaces.
- Synonym: scraper
- (informal) Synonym of tool, implement, device, gadget, part
Translations edit
unnamed, unspecified, or hypothetical manufactured good or product
modular software component
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floating widget or other device inside a beer can
small scraping tool
Etymology 2 edit
Noun edit
widget (plural widgets)
- (graphical user interface) Any one of the components of a computer application's graphical user interface, such as a Cancel button or text input box that a user interacts with.
- Synonym: control
- (graphical user interface) A small applet that can be placed on the desktop or in a sidebar, etc.
Descendants edit
Translations edit
component of a graphical user interface that the user interacts with
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Further reading edit
- widget on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
- graphical widget on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
- software widget on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
- “widget”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
French edit
Etymology edit
Noun edit
widget m (plural widgets)
Spanish edit
Etymology edit
Unadapted borrowing from English widget.
Pronunciation edit
- Rhymes: -iʝet
Noun edit
widget m (plural widgets)
Usage notes edit
According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.