And vowed never to return again, Till him alive or dead she did
invent.
Spenser.
2. To discover, as by study or inquiry; to find out; to devise; to
contrive or produce for the first time; -- applied commonly to the
discovery of some serviceable mode, instrument, or machine.
Thus first Necessity invented stools.
Cowper.
3. To frame by the imagination; to fabricate mentally; to forge; -- in
a good or a bad sense; as, to invent the machinery of a poem; to invent
a falsehood.
Whate'er his cruel malice could invent.
Milton.
He had invented some circumstances, and put the worst possible
construction on others.
Sir W. Scott.
Syn. -- To discover; contrive; devise; frame; design; fabricate;
concoct; elaborate. See Discover.
In*vent"er (?), n. One who invents.
In*vent"ful (?), a. Full of invention. J. Gifford.
In*vent"i*ble (?), a. Capable of being invented.
In*vent"i*ble*ness, n. Quality of being inventible.