Widget - Definition and Overview

Widget is a general-purpose term for any unspecified device, including those that have not yet been invented. It is commonly used in textbook and other examples where the identity of the product or function is irrelevant and could be distracting: students may be asked to design a business plan for the XYZ Widget Company.

The word has also been used for specific purposes as detailed below.

Floating widget in canned beer

Guinness floating widget

The floating widget found in cans of beer is a hollow sphere, 3 cm (1.2 in) in diameter. The can is pressurized by adding liquid nitrogen, which evaporates after the can is sealed, forcing gas and beer into the widget's hollow interior through tiny holes. When the can is opened, the pressure in the can drops, causing the pressurized gas inside the widget to jet out from the holes. The holes in the widget are angled slightly so that the widget spins, creating a creamy head inside the can. This imitates the foamy head created when pouring draught beer. The original widget was patented in the UK by Guinness for its stout in the late 1980s.

Graphical component in computing

In computing, widgets are components of graphical user interfaces that the user interacts with, and also small helper-type applications. See widget (computing).

Device in Marvel Comics

In Marvel Comics, Widget is a robotic head built by Tweedledope of the Crazy Gang that is capable of self-propulsion and generating portals to other dimensions out of its own construction. Widget was a member of the now-defunct British superhero team Excalibur.