From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishparaphernaliapar‧a‧pher‧na‧li‧a /ˌpærəfəˈneɪliə $ -fər-/ noun [uncountable] 1 THINGa lot of small things that belong to someone, or are needed for a particular activity an electric kettle and all the paraphernalia for making tea and coffee travelling paraphernalia2 THINGthe things and events that are connected with a particular activity, especially those which you think are unnecessary all the usual paraphernalia of bureaucracy
Examples from the Corpus
paraphernalia• The car is packed solid with all our camping paraphernalia.• In August 1988, he was arrested for possessing illegal drug paraphernalia - syringes.• She was charged with possessing drug paraphernalia.• drug paraphernalia• For a while now the narrow house has been filling up with medical paraphernalia, with doctoring tackle.• Miniature saltwater systems shrink miles of life into a large aquarium, plus paraphernalia.• Their home was decorated with Elvis Presley paraphernalia.• He had always liked the paraphernalia of storms: hail, lightning, darkness, thunder.• Every summer, they ventured into the streets with their usual paraphernalia, umbrellas and towels wrapped impertinently around their heads.• She pauses as the whole paraphernalia of the upcoming scene passes between them.• Every prominent scholar of nineteenth-century art planted himself in front of her, writing paraphernalia at hand.Origin paraphernalia (1600-1700) Medieval Latin Greek parapherna “things brought to a marriage by a woman apart from the agreed amount of money”, from pherne “dowry” 