deus ex machina: Meaning and Definition of

de•us ex ma•chi•na

Pronunciation: (dā'us eks mä'ku-nu, dē'us eks mak'u-nu), [key]
  1. (in ancient Greek and Roman drama) a god introduced into a play to resolve the entanglements of the plot.
  2. any artificial or improbable device resolving the difficulties of a plot.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.