Rube Goldberg device
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The utility of jokes is that they are perfectly engineered to trick minds out of ruts, manipulate thoughts in one direction or another, a Rube Goldberg device delighting through distraction.
From New York Times ● May 8, 2020
Made of scrap found in New Jersey junkyards, the massive work — 27 feet high and 23 feet in length — was supposed to be a mechanical display, sort of like a Rube Goldberg device.
From Salon ● Oct. 19, 2018
Behind the screen’s simulated 3-D workplace is an apparatus — part Rube Goldberg device, part disemboweled pinball machine.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 17, 2015
Anything can make you lose your apartment, because any unexpected problem that pops up, like they do, can set off that Rube Goldberg device.
From Slate ● Dec. 5, 2014
To Deloria’s way of thinking, not only overkill but the entire Clovis-first theory is a theoretical Rube Goldberg device.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
