widget

n. hypothetical object; name for an item whose name has been forgotten; graphic symbol that enables interaction between the user and computer (scroll bar, button, etc.); small computer program that defines the action of graphic symbols

Widget may refer to:Widget (economics), a placeholder name for an object or, more specifically, a mechanical or other manufactured deviceIn computing:Widget engine, such as Dashboard widgets for Apple's Mac OS X v10.4, Windows Vista Sidebar, KlipFolio, Yahoo! Widgets (aka Konfabulator), iGoogle, Google Desktop or netvibes.GUI widget, a component of a graphical user interface that the user interacts withWeb widget, a third party item that can be embedded in a web pageMobile widget, a third party item that can be embedded in a mobile phoneWidget (beer), the nitrogen widget in cans and bottles of beerWidget (comics), a character in Marvel ComicsWidget (TV series), a 1990s animated television series
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Yahoo! Widgets is a free application platform for Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows. The software was previously called Konfabulator, but after being acquired by computer services company Yahoo! it was rebranded. The name Konfabulator was subsequently reinstated as the name of the underlying rendering engine. The engine uses a JavaScript runtime environment combined with an XML interpreter to run small applications referred to as Widgets, and hence is part of a class of software applications called widget engines.
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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]

Noun
1. a device that is very useful for a particular job
(synonym) appliance, contraption, contrivance, convenience, gadget, gizmo, gismo
(hypernym) device
(hyponym) gadgetry