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.]

p. a. [ Pref. en- + rapt. Cf. Enravish. ] Thrown into ecstasy; transported; enraptured. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Enraptured p. pr. & vb. n. Enrapturing. ] To transport with pleasure; to delight beyond measure; to enravish. Shenstone. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ NL, Graptolithus, from Gr. &unr_; is engraved, written (gra`fein to write) + &unr_; stone. ] (Paleon.) One of numerous species of slender and delicate fossils, of the genus Graptolites and allied genera, found in the Silurian rocks. They belong to an extinct group (Graptolithina) supposed to be hydroids. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of or pertaining to graptolites; containing graptolites; as, a graptolitic slate. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n.; pl. Paraptera [ NL. See Para-, and Pteron. ] (Zool.) A special plate situated on the sides of the mesothorax and metathorax of certain insects. [ 1913 Webster ]

imp. & p. p. of Rap, to snatch away. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Snatched away; hurried away or along. [ 1913 Webster ]

Waters rapt with whirling away. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Transported with love, admiration, delight, etc.; enraptured. “The rapt musician.” Longfellow. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Wholly absorbed or engrossed, as in work or meditation. “Rapt in secret studies.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ From F. rapt abduction, rape, L. raptus, fr. rapere to seize and carry off, to transport; or fr. E. rapt, a. See Rapt, a., and Rapid. ] 1. An ecstasy; a trance. [ Obs. ] Bp. Morton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Rapidity. [ Obs. ] Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. 1. To transport or ravish. [ Obs. ] Drayton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To carry away by force. [ Obs. ] Daniel. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A raptor. [ Obs. ] Drayton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. raptor, from rapere to ravish. See Rapid. ] A ravisher; a plunderer. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. pl. [ NL. See Raptor. ] (Zool.) An order of birds, same as Accipitres. Called also Raptatores. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Zool.) (a) Rapacious; living upon prey; -- said especially of certain birds. (b) Adapted for seizing prey; -- said of the legs, claws, etc., of insects, birds, and other animals. (c) Of or pertaining to the Raptores. See Illust. (f) of Aves. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. raptorius. ] (Zool.) Raptorial. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. rapere, raptum, to carry off by force. See Rapid. ] 1. A seizing by violence; a hurrying along; rapidity with violence. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

That 'gainst a rock, or flat, her keel did dash
With headlong rapture. Chapman. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The state or condition of being rapt, or carried away from one's self by agreeable excitement; violence of a pleasing passion; extreme joy or pleasure; ecstasy. [ 1913 Webster ]

Music, when thus applied, raises in the mind of the hearer great conceptions; it strengthens devotion, and advances praise into rapture. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

You grow correct that once with rapture writ. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A spasm; a fit; a syncope; delirium. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Bliss; ecstasy; transport; delight; exultation. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Raptured p. pr. & vb. n. Rapturing. ] To transport with excitement; to enrapture. [ Poetic ] Thomson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. An enthusiast. [ Obs. ] J. Spencer. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. & i. To put, or be put, in a state of rapture. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Ecstatic; transporting; ravishing; feeling, expressing, or manifesting rapture; as, rapturous joy, pleasure, or delight; rapturous applause. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a rapturous manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See Tetrapterous. ] (Zool.) An insect having four wings. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Gr. &unr_;; te`tra- (see Tetra-) + &unr_; wing. ] (Zool.) Having four wings. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. tetraptotum, Gr. &unr_;. ] (Gram.) A noun that has four cases only. Andrews. [ 1913 Webster ]