Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Contrive \Con*trive"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Contrived}; p. pr. &
   vb. n. {Contriving}.] [OE. contriven, contreven, controven,
   to invent, OF. controver, contruver; con- + trouver to find.
   See {Troubadour}, {trover}.]
   To form by an exercise of ingenuity; to devise; to invent; to
   design; to plan.

         What more likely to contrive this admirable frame of
         the universe than infinite wisdom.       --Tillotson.

         neither do thou imagine that I shall contrive aught
         against his life.                        --Hawthorne.

   Syn: To invent; discover; plan; design; project; plot;
        concert; hatch.