ju·ry-rig

(jo͝or′ē-rĭg′)

tr.v. ju·ry-rigged, ju·ry-rig·ging, ju·ry-rigs

To rig or assemble for temporary emergency use; improvise: The survivors of the wreck jury-rigged some fishing gear.

[From jury-rig, jury-rigging, improvised rigging on a ship, modeled on jury-mast, temporary mast, perhaps ultimately from Old French ajurie, help, from aider, to help; see aid.]

Usage Note: Traditionally, to jury-rig means "to assemble for temporary, emergency use; to improvise," whereas to jerry-build means "to build shoddily, flimsily, and cheaply." The connotations are different, with jury-rig emphasizing the impromptu nature of the construction and jerry-build its inferior nature. Because improvised construction is often shoddy, however, the words are sometimes conflated in common usage, and sometimes combined into the hybrid jerry-rig. In our 2015 survey, the Usage Panel slightly preferred jerry-rig to jury-rig in a sentence involving improvised construction, but they appear to feel strongly that jerry-build implies shoddiness rather than improvisation: only 19 percent accepted After the earthquake, people jerry-built ingenious devices for cooking and washing. A careful writer will use jury-rig or jerry-rig for improvised contraptions and jerry-build for shoddy ones, but because of the potential for confusion, one should also make sure that the meaning is clear in context before using any of these terms.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ju′ry-rig`

v.t. -rigged, -rig•ging.

to assemble hastily or from whatever is at hand, esp. for temporary use.

[1780–90]

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References in periodicals archive

My husband was able to jury-rig the problem enough to get us down to the highway.

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Why Aereo's free ride will ultimately crash: the startup has stayed alive exploiting loopholes, but broadcasters will protect the biz at all costs

One thing you definitely don't want to do is jury-rig something directly into the aircraft's electrical bus.

Tapping ship's power