jury-rig

verb

ju·​ry-rig ˈju̇r-ē-ˌrig How to pronounce jury-rig (audio)
-ˈrig, 
ˈjər-
jury-rigged; jury-rigging; jury-rigs
Synonyms of jury-rignext

transitive verb

: to erect, construct, or arrange in a makeshift fashion

Synonyms of jury-rig

Relevance
See All Synonyms & Antonyms in Thesaurus

Examples of jury-rig in a Sentence

we jury-rigged shelves out of cartons and crates until we could afford real furniture
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
On the wooden battlements of Tumbleton — designed to look like they were jury-rigged by Ormund’s army — the episode’s director, Andrij Parekh, is going through footage where Roddy’s crew breaks through the town’s defensive walls. — Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 10 Aug. 2026 Young people today have a real hunger for interesting, honest stuff that doesn’t feel jury-rigged to make a ton of money. — Marta Balaga, Variety, 6 Aug. 2026 To jury-rig a weathervane, an empty soda bottle with some hazard tape attached had been placed upside-down on a stick. — Ed Caesar, New Yorker, 25 May 2026 That realization has, in recent weeks, set off a scramble on the part of the Iranian regime to find suitable storage, an effort that has entailed everything from reactivating old storage facilities to jury-rigging vacant tankers to serve the purpose. — Ilan Berman, Forbes.com, 18 May 2026 See All Example Sentences for jury-rig

Word History

Etymology

jury entry 3

First Known Use

1788, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of jury-rig was in 1788

Browse Nearby Words

jury panel
jury-rig
jury strut
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Jury-rig.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/jury-rig. Accessed 17 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Do you 'say your piece' or 'say your peace'?

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

Is “GIF” Pronounced “Jiff” or “Giff”?

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
image of a green cube out of place in a lineup of red spheres
Odd Word Out: Synonyms Vol. 2 Quiz Figure out which word isn't like the others.
See All