inventionnoun [ C or U ]
uk/ɪnˈven.ʃən/us/ɪnˈven.ʃən/invention noun [ C or U ] (NEW DESIGN)
B1 something that has never been made before, or the process of creating something that has never been made before:
The world changed rapidly after the invention of the phone.
a most amazing invention
More examples
- The invention of the contraceptive pill brought about profound changes in the lives of women.
- If you don't patent your invention, other people may make all the profit out of it.
- The invention of the silicon chip was a landmark in the history of the computer.
- This invention made a major contribution to road safety.
- The 20th century was remarkable for its inventions.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Inventing, designing and innovation
- architect
- artificer
- authoring
- blueprint
- cad
- coin
- computer-aided design
- engineer
- ergonomics
- father
- founding father
- guinea pig
- innovate
- mint
- pioneer
- research
- research and development
- robotics
- tech
- technical
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invention noun [ C or U ] (NOT TRUE)
a story or excuse that is not true, or the act of creating a story or excuse that is not true:
All that gossip about Linda was just pure invention.
Be careful what you believe - her powers of invention (= ability to think of excuses, etc.) are well known.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
True, real, false, and unreal
- actual
- actuality
- actually
- all that glitters is not gold idiom
- apocryphal
- fairy tale
- faithful
- false
- falsely
- fictional
- glitter
- gritty
- nominal
- pretend
- proper
- properly
- properly speaking idiom
- pukka
- realistic
- well founded
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