widget

[wij-it] /ˈwɪdʒ ɪt/

noun

a small mechanical device, as a knob or switch, especially one whose name is not known or cannot be recalled; gadget:

a row of widgets on the instrument panel.

something considered typical or representative, as of a manufacturer's products:

the widgets coming off the assembly line.

Origin

1925-30; perhaps alteration of gadget

Examples from the web for widget

Start with headlines in the widget and read any story with a single click.
They represent the amount of money needed to pay your staff to make one unit of output, one widget.
She's talking about a matchbox-sized widget that museums use to monitor humidity and temperature in their galleries.
These envelopes have a small widget inside onto which you record a ten-second message.
Still, imagine what this little widget could do for your reputation.
And they never will until everybody you want to swap details with is using the exact same application or widget.
Once inside an app or widget though, you lose those options.
Up to a certain point, the more widgets you produce, the cheaper each widget becomes.
Bottled and canned versions require the intervention of a tiny beer-widget.
But say that widgets in general are dangerous, and widget-makers can do nothing about it.

British Dictionary definitions for widget

widget

/ˈwɪdʒɪt/

noun

(informal) any small mechanism or device, the name of which is unknown or temporarily forgotten

a small device in a beer can which, when the can is opened, releases nitrogen gas into the beer, giving it a head

a small computer program that can be installed on and executed from the desktop of a personal computer

Word Origin

C20: changed from gadget

Contemporary definitions for widget

noun

an element of a graphical user interface such as a button or scroll bar; also, a module of software for a personalized Web page

Examples

The widget allows you to have "things to be happy about" on your Web site.

Word Origin

1987

Word Origin and History for widget

"gadget, small manufactured item," c.1920, American English, probably an alteration of gadget, perhaps based on which it.

Slang definitions & phrases for widget

widget

modifier

: as though it were read aloud from the press release of a widget manufacturer

noun

A mechanical, electrical, or electronic device; gadget, gizmo: It's three floors of sights, sounds, illusions, movements, gadgets, widgets, and gizmos/ not an activity I would recommend to anyone daunted by a widgit more complicated than a stapler (1920+)

[an alteration of gadget, perhaps based on hypothetical which it on the model of whatzit and whoozis]

widget in Technology

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.
[Jargon File]