You can picture contrive as a person with a problem in front of them and only odd bits and pieces to hand. They turn the pieces over, see something nobody else saw, and put together a thing that works: a fan out of a folder, a phone stand out of . Head and hands together. From there, the thing being put together does not have to be an object. It can be a situation someone quietly builds so it turns out their way, or a route through a difficulty that finally gets the job done.
From the word’s history
Wiktionary traces contrive to Middle English contreve and Old French controver, which contains trover, to find. The old idea of finding sits well under the modern one: the person keeps looking until a workable way turns up.
Wiktionary 記錄 contrive 來自中古英文 contreve，再往前是古法文 controver，裡面有 trover「找到」。這個「一直找，找到為止」的舊意思，正好墊在今天的用法底下：東西不夠、路不通，這個人還是找出可用的辦法。
Wiktionary entry for contrive (kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:644306729), etymology_text supplied in this packet
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原始詞典資料4 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，摘錄並精簡格式，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
contriveverb/kənˈtɹaɪv/
- 1
To invent by an exercise of ingeniosity; to devise
- […]I cannot bear the idea of two young women traveling post by themselves. It is highly improper. You must contrive to send somebody.
- Neither do thou imagine that I shall contrive aught against his life.
- 2
To invent, to make devices; to form designs especially by improvisation.
- 3
To project, cast, or set forth, as in a projection of light.
- 4
obsoleteTo spend (time, or a period).
摘錄自 英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary，已精簡格式；依 CC BY-SA 4.0 授權使用，改動後的內容同樣以此授權提供。