Contrive \Con*trive"\ (k[o^]n*tr[imac]v"), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Contrived}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Contriving}.] [OE. contriven, contreven, controven, to invent, OF. controver, contruver; con- + trouver to find. See {Troubadour}, {trover}.] To form by an exercise of ingenuity; to devise; to invent; to design; to plan.
What more likely to contrive this admirable frame of the universe than infinite wisdom. --Tillotson.
neither do thou imagine that I shall contrive aught against his life. --Hawthorne.
Syn: To invent; discover; plan; design; project; plot; concert; hatch.
Contrive \Con*trive"\, v. i. To make devices; to form designs; to plan; to scheme; to plot.
The Fates with traitors do contrive. --Shak.
Thou hast contrived against th very life Of the defendant. --Shak.
We didn't contrive in the overthrow of the shah; in fact, for a long time we helped prop him up.
Did the owner of a Nevada diner really contrive to create a fifth television network, featuring programming about sympathetic serial killers and laugh-a-minute Watergate antics?