"MacGyver" meaning in English

See MacGyver in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /məˈɡaɪvə/ [UK], /məˈɡaɪvɚ/ [US] Audio: en-us-MacGyver.ogg [US] Forms: MacGyvers [plural]
enPR: mə-gīʹvər Etymology: From the name of the eponymous character in the television program MacGyver, a secret agent with an uncanny ability to construct weapons from seemingly useless bits of junk. Head templates: {{en-noun}} MacGyver (plural MacGyvers)
  1. Someone capable of improvising a solution from available resources.
    Sense id: en-MacGyver-en-noun-namyb73p

Verb

IPA: /məˈɡaɪvə/ [UK], /məˈɡaɪvɚ/ [US] Audio: en-us-MacGyver.ogg [US] Forms: MacGyvers [present, singular, third-person], MacGyvering [participle, present], MacGyvered [participle, past], MacGyvered [past]
enPR: mə-gīʹvər Etymology: From the name of the eponymous character in the television program MacGyver, a secret agent with an uncanny ability to construct weapons from seemingly useless bits of junk. Head templates: {{en-verb}} MacGyver (third-person singular simple present MacGyvers, present participle MacGyvering, simple past and past participle MacGyvered)
  1. (transitive) To assemble or repair something by ingenious improvisation, using everyday items that would not usually be used for the purpose. Tags: transitive Categories (topical): Fictional characters Synonyms: jury-rig, nigger-rig Related terms: MacGyverism
    Sense id: en-MacGyver-en-verb-tAbB7T4C Disambiguation of Fictional characters: 29 71 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English entries with language name categories using raw markup, English entries with topic categories using raw markup Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 17 83 Disambiguation of English entries with language name categories using raw markup: 13 87 Disambiguation of English entries with topic categories using raw markup: 15 85

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

Download JSON data for MacGyver meaning in English (4.2kB)

{
  "etymology_text": "From the name of the eponymous character in the television program MacGyver, a secret agent with an uncanny ability to construct weapons from seemingly useless bits of junk.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "MacGyvers",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "MacGyver (plural MacGyvers)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "glosses": [
        "Someone capable of improvising a solution from available resources."
      ],
      "id": "en-MacGyver-en-noun-namyb73p",
      "links": [
        [
          "improvising",
          "improvising"
        ],
        [
          "resource",
          "resource"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/məˈɡaɪvə/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/məˈɡaɪvɚ/",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-MacGyver.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/4/43/En-us-MacGyver.ogg/En-us-MacGyver.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/En-us-MacGyver.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (US)"
    },
    {
      "enpr": "mə-gīʹvər"
    }
  ],
  "word": "MacGyver"
}

{
  "etymology_text": "From the name of the eponymous character in the television program MacGyver, a secret agent with an uncanny ability to construct weapons from seemingly useless bits of junk.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "MacGyvers",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "MacGyvering",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "MacGyvered",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "MacGyvered",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "MacGyver (third-person singular simple present MacGyvers, present participle MacGyvering, simple past and past participle MacGyvered)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "17 83",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "13 87",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with language name categories using raw markup",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "15 85",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with topic categories using raw markup",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "29 71",
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Fictional characters",
          "orig": "en:Fictional characters",
          "parents": [
            "Fiction",
            "Artistic works",
            "Art",
            "Culture",
            "Society",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Our car broke down and we didn't have any tools but Jim MacGyvered it with some toenail clippers and we were able to limp to the service station.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2024 April 24, Helene Cooper, “NATO Puts on a Show of Force in the Shadow of Russia’s War”, in The New York Times, →ISSN",
          "text": "It is why some of the American troops experimented with commercial drones that they could weaponize by fixing with explosives, to see how to counter such tactics, much as Russian troops have had to learn how to defend against Ukraine’s use of store-bought drones that have been MacGyvered with explosives.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To assemble or repair something by ingenious improvisation, using everyday items that would not usually be used for the purpose."
      ],
      "id": "en-MacGyver-en-verb-tAbB7T4C",
      "links": [
        [
          "assemble",
          "assemble"
        ],
        [
          "repair",
          "repair"
        ],
        [
          "ingenious",
          "ingenious"
        ],
        [
          "improvisation",
          "improvisation"
        ],
        [
          "item",
          "item"
        ],
        [
          "purpose",
          "purpose"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive) To assemble or repair something by ingenious improvisation, using everyday items that would not usually be used for the purpose."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "MacGyverism"
        }
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "jury-rig"
        },
        {
          "word": "nigger-rig"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/məˈɡaɪvə/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/məˈɡaɪvɚ/",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-MacGyver.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/4/43/En-us-MacGyver.ogg/En-us-MacGyver.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/En-us-MacGyver.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (US)"
    },
    {
      "enpr": "mə-gīʹvər"
    }
  ],
  "word": "MacGyver"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English 3-syllable words",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
    "English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
    "English eponyms",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms derived from fiction",
    "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
    "English terms with audio links",
    "English verbs",
    "en:Fictional characters"
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From the name of the eponymous character in the television program MacGyver, a secret agent with an uncanny ability to construct weapons from seemingly useless bits of junk.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "MacGyvers",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "MacGyver (plural MacGyvers)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "glosses": [
        "Someone capable of improvising a solution from available resources."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "improvising",
          "improvising"
        ],
        [
          "resource",
          "resource"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/məˈɡaɪvə/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/məˈɡaɪvɚ/",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-MacGyver.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/4/43/En-us-MacGyver.ogg/En-us-MacGyver.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/En-us-MacGyver.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (US)"
    },
    {
      "enpr": "mə-gīʹvər"
    }
  ],
  "word": "MacGyver"
}

{
  "categories": [
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    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
    "English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
    "English eponyms",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms derived from fiction",
    "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
    "English terms with audio links",
    "English verbs",
    "en:Fictional characters"
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From the name of the eponymous character in the television program MacGyver, a secret agent with an uncanny ability to construct weapons from seemingly useless bits of junk.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "MacGyvers",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "MacGyvering",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "MacGyvered",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "MacGyvered",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "MacGyver (third-person singular simple present MacGyvers, present participle MacGyvering, simple past and past participle MacGyvered)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "MacGyverism"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with usage examples",
        "English transitive verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Our car broke down and we didn't have any tools but Jim MacGyvered it with some toenail clippers and we were able to limp to the service station.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2024 April 24, Helene Cooper, “NATO Puts on a Show of Force in the Shadow of Russia’s War”, in The New York Times, →ISSN",
          "text": "It is why some of the American troops experimented with commercial drones that they could weaponize by fixing with explosives, to see how to counter such tactics, much as Russian troops have had to learn how to defend against Ukraine’s use of store-bought drones that have been MacGyvered with explosives.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To assemble or repair something by ingenious improvisation, using everyday items that would not usually be used for the purpose."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "assemble",
          "assemble"
        ],
        [
          "repair",
          "repair"
        ],
        [
          "ingenious",
          "ingenious"
        ],
        [
          "improvisation",
          "improvisation"
        ],
        [
          "item",
          "item"
        ],
        [
          "purpose",
          "purpose"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive) To assemble or repair something by ingenious improvisation, using everyday items that would not usually be used for the purpose."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/məˈɡaɪvə/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/məˈɡaɪvɚ/",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-MacGyver.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/4/43/En-us-MacGyver.ogg/En-us-MacGyver.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/En-us-MacGyver.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (US)"
    },
    {
      "enpr": "mə-gīʹvər"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "jury-rig"
    },
    {
      "word": "nigger-rig"
    }
  ],
  "word": "MacGyver"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-09 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (4d5d0bb and edd475d). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.