jury-rig

[ joo r-ee-rig ]

/ ˈdʒʊər iˌrɪg /

Nautical. a temporary rig to replace a permanent rig that has been disabled, lost overboard, etc.

any makeshift arrangement of machinery or the like.

to assemble quickly or from whatever is at hand, especially for temporary use: to jury-rig stage lights using automobile headlights.

Nautical. to replace (a rudder, mast, etc.) with a jury-rig: We jury-rigged a fore-topmast after the storm had snapped ours off.

Origin of jury-rig

First recorded in 1780–90

jerry-built jury-rigged

Because women have so little support in combining work and family, everyone is left to do it in her own ad-hoc, jury-rigged way.

Beyond Marissa Mayer, Bigger Problems for America’s New Mothers |Michelle Goldberg |July 20, 2012 |DAILY BEAST
In eastern Libya, that often meant a Mad Max charge across the Sahara, armed to the teeth in jury-rigged pickups and sedans.

Gaddafi Goons Dig In |Babak Dehghanpisheh |August 22, 2011 |DAILY BEAST
Designed as a skirt, it was jury-rigged into a dress by Middleton—or by some stage-hand with an eye for provocation.

Kate Middleton's Charity-Auction Dress Auctioned in London |Robin Givhan |March 15, 2011 |DAILY BEAST
That is why the Geithner plan is so complex and jury-rigged, to avoid the need for public requests for more money for banks.

Does Obama Have a Plan B? |Adam S. Posen |March 29, 2009 |DAILY BEAST

About it he could make out a thin gleaming of wires—a jury-rigged safety field.

The Winds of Time |James H. Schmitz
He'd jury-rigged a kind of control on the hull field, so he could aim the hulk easily enough.

The Measure of a Man |Randall Garrett
The Agamemnon had been jury-rigged for the service, her heavy masts and rigging removed, and lighter ropes and spars substituted.

The Atlantic Telegraph |William Howard Russell
This was no occasion calling for remarkable ingenuity to make some sort of jury-rigged drive.

Talents, Incorporated |William Fitzgerald Jenkins
Copeland worked the jury-rigged controls of the jet, continuing to decelerate.

Comet's Burial |Raymond Zinke Gallun

jury-rigged

mainly nautical set up in a makeshift manner, usually as a result of the loss of regular gear