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gad‧get [countable]

a small, useful, and cleverly-designed machine or tool:

a neat gadget for sharpening knives

➔ see usage note machine1WORD CHOICE: 

machine, device, gadget, applianceA machine is a piece of equipment that uses power to do a particular job. It is usually large and stays in the same place• a machine that sorts mail• a washing machineYou use the words device and gadget especially when you think the equipment is very cleverly designed. A device is a piece of equipment that does a particular job, for example takes measurements or controls the operation of a machine. It may use electrical power or be used by hand• a device for detecting blood alcohol levels from breath samples• a temperature control deviceA gadget is a small piece of equipment that does something useful or impressive• one of those gadgets that sorts coins• kitchen gadgetsAn appliance is a piece of electrical equipment used in your home such as a washing machine or fridge. This word is used especially by the companies that produce and sell them• the world's largest producer of household appliances• domestic appliances➔ See also machine

gadgeteer

английский - русский - gadgeteer
изобретатель приспособлений; изобретатель технических новинок; любитель всевозможных приспособлений и устройств

gadget

Gadgets : What is a Gadget?

Have you ever wondered what the little, single-service applications that sit in your desktop or your iGoogle are? These are gadgets. A gadget is a small application that you can use to simplify your life. There are all kinds of gadgets. You are probably most familiar with things like the clock gadget, the To Do list gadget, the calendar gadget, calculator gadget and other every-day gadgets that sit on your desktop and are referenced throughout your day-to-day life.

There are also more specific types of gadgets that can simplify your life even further. For instance, if you are travelling then you could use a currency converter gadget to help you figure out how much things cost in your native currency or you could use a weather gadget to see what the weather will be like in the country you are travelling to before your trip. A popular gadget in blogs and websites is the RSS gadget, which allows you to post a feed of content from other sites on the Web.

Gadgets are for use within specific sites, unlike widgets, which can be embedded in many different types of places. For instance, Google websites only work in Google pages and a Microsoft gadget can only be used within Microsoft pages. Now that you understand gadgets, use them to simplify your life.