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devil
10 dictionary results for: Devil
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
dev·il 
[dev-uhl] Pronunciation Key noun, verb, -iled, -il·ing or (especially British) -illed, -il·ling.
[dev-uhl] Pronunciation Key noun, verb, -iled, -il·ing or (especially British) -illed, -il·ling. –noun
–verb (used with object)
—Idioms
| 1. | Theology.
|
| 2. | an atrociously wicked, cruel, or ill-tempered person. |
| 3. | a person who is very clever, energetic, reckless, or mischievous. |
| 4. | a person, usually one in unfortunate or pitiable circumstances: The poor devil kept losing jobs through no fault of his own. |
| 5. | Also called printer's devil. Printing. a young worker below the level of apprentice in a printing office. |
| 6. | any of various mechanical devices, as a machine for tearing rags, a machine for manufacturing wooden screws, etc. |
| 7. | Nautical. (in deck or hull planking) any of various seams difficult to caulk because of form or position. |
| 8. | any of various portable furnaces or braziers used in construction and foundry work. |
| 9. | the devil, (used as an emphatic expletive or mild oath to express disgust, anger, astonishment, negation, etc.): What the devil do you mean by that? |
| 10. | to annoy; harass; pester: to devil Mom and Dad for a new car. |
| 11. | to tear (rags, cloth, etc.) with a devil. |
| 12. | Cookery. to prepare (food, usually minced) with hot or savory seasoning: to devil eggs. |
| 13. | between the devil and the deep (blue) sea, between two undesirable alternatives; in an unpleasant dilemma. |
| 14. | devil of a, extremely difficult or annoying; hellish: I had a devil of a time getting home through the snow. |
| 15. | give the devil his due, to give deserved credit even to a person one dislikes: To give the devil his due, you must admit that she is an excellent psychologist. |
| 16. | go to the devil,
|
| 17. | let the devil take the hindmost, to leave the least able or fortunate persons to suffer adverse consequences; leave behind or to one's fate: They ran from the pursuing mob and let the devil take the hindmost. |
| 18. | play the devil with, to ruin completely; spoil: The financial crisis played the devil with our investment plans. |
| 19. | raise the devil,
|
| 20. | the devil to pay, trouble to be faced; mischief in the offing: If conditions don't improve, there will be the devil to pay. |
[Origin: bef. 900; ME devel, OE déofol < LL diabolus < Gk diábolos Satan (Septuagint, NT), lit., slanderer (n.), slanderous (adj.), verbid of diabállein to assault someone's character, lit., to throw across, equiv. to dia- dia- + bállein to throw]
]
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
| dev·il
(děv'əl) Pronunciation Key
n.
tr.v. dev·iled or dev·illed, dev·il·ing or dev·il·ling, dev·ils
[Middle English devel, from Old English dēofol, from Latin diabolus, from Late Greek diabolos, from Greek, slanderer, from diaballein, to slander : dia-, dia- + ballein, to hurl; see gwelə- in Indo-European roots.] |
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
devil
devil
O.E. deofol "evil spirit," from L.L. diabolus, from Gk. diabolos "accuser, slanderer" (scriptural loan-translation of Heb. satan), from diaballein "to slander, attack," lit. "throw across," from dia- "across, through" + ballein "to throw." Jerome re-introduced Satan in L. bibles, and Eng. translators have used both in different measures. In Vulgate, as in Gk., diabolus and dæmon (see demon) were distinct, but they have merged in Eng. and other Gmc. languages. Playful use for "clever rogue" is from 1601. Meaning "sand spout, dust storm" is from 1835. Devilry is from 1375; deviltry (1788) is a corrupt formation from it. Devilled "grilled with hot condiments" is from 1800. The Tasmanian devil so called since at least 1829, from its propensity for killing young lambs (other voracious fish or animals have also been named devil). Phrase a devil way (c.1290) was originally an emphatic form of away, but taken by late 14c. as an expression of irritation. Devil's advocate (1760) is L. advocatus diaboli, one whose job it is to urge against the canonization of a candidate for sainthood. Devil-may-care is attested from 1837 (but suggested in other forms by 1793). Devil's books "playing cards" is from 1729, but the cited quote says they've been called that "time out of mind" (the four of clubs is the devil's bedposts); devil's coach-horse is from 1840, the large rove-beetle, which is defiant when disturbed. "Talk of the Devil, and he's presently at your elbow" [1666].
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
| devil | |
noun | |
| 1. | (Judeo-Christian and Islamic religions) chief spirit of evil and adversary of God; tempter of mankind; master of Hell [syn: Satan] |
| 2. | an evil supernatural being |
| 3. | a word used in exclamations of confusion; "what the devil"; "the deuce with it"; "the dickens you say" |
| 4. | a rowdy or mischievous person (usually a young man); "he chased the young hellions out of his yard" [syn: hellion] |
| 5. | a cruel wicked and inhuman person [syn: monster] |
verb | |
| 1. | cause annoyance in; disturb, especially by minor irritations; "Mosquitoes buzzing in my ear really bothers me"; "It irritates me that she never closes the door after she leaves" |
| 2. | coat or stuff with a spicy paste; "devilled eggs" |
WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms - Cite This Source - Share This
devil
In addition to the idioms beginning with devil, also see between a rock and a hard place (devil and deep blue sea); full of it (the devil); give someone hell (the devil); give the devil his due; go to hell (the devil); luck of the devil; play the devil with; raise Cain (the devil); speak of the devil.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Copyright © 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition - Cite This Source - Share This
devil
devil
A bad or fallen angel. (See Satan.)
The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
U.S. Gazetteer - Cite This Source - Share This
Kill Devil Hills, NC (town, FIPS 35720) Location: 36.01602 N, 75.66753 W
Population (1990): 4238 (4809 housing units)
Area: 14.2 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Zip code(s): 27948
Red Devil, AK (CDP, FIPS 64930) Location: 61.79033 N, 157.34786 W
Population (1990): 53 (24 housing units)
Area: 60.8 sq km (land), 5.0 sq km (water)
Zip code(s): 99656
U.S. Gazetteer, U.S. Census Bureau
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Devil
Dev"il\, n. [AS. de['o]fol, de['o]ful; akin to G. ?eufel, Goth. diaba['u]lus; all fr. L. diabolus the devil, Gr. ? the devil, the slanderer, fr. ? to slander, calumniate, orig., to throw across; ? across + ? to throw, let fall, fall; cf. Skr. gal to fall. Cf. Diabolic.]1. The Evil One; Satan, represented as the tempter and spiritual of mankind. [Jesus] being forty days tempted of the devil. --Luke iv. 2. That old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world. --Rev. xii. 9. 2. An evil spirit; a demon. A dumb man possessed with a devil. --Matt. ix. 32. 3. A very wicked person; hence, any great evil. "That devil Glendower." "The devil drunkenness." --Shak. Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil? --John vi. 70. 4. An expletive of surprise, vexation, or emphasis, or, ironically, of negation. [Low] The devil a puritan that he is, . . . but a timepleaser. --Shak. The things, we know, are neither rich nor rare, But wonder how the devil they got there. --Pope. 5. (Cookery) A dish, as a bone with the meat, broiled and excessively peppered; a grill with Cayenne pepper. Men and women busy in baking, broiling, roasting oysters, and preparing devils on the gridiron. --Sir W. Scott. 6. (Manuf.) A machine for tearing or cutting rags, cotton, etc. Blue devils. See under Blue. Cartesian devil. See under Cartesian. Devil bird (Zo["o]l.), one of two or more South African drongo shrikes (Edolius retifer, and E. remifer), believed by the natives to be connected with sorcery. Devil may care, reckless, defiant of authority; -- used adjectively. --Longfellow. Devil's apron (Bot.), the large kelp (Laminaria saccharina, and L. longicruris) of the Atlantic ocean, having a blackish, leathery expansion, shaped somewhat like an apron. Devil's coachhorse. (Zo["o]l.) (a) The black rove beetle (Ocypus olens). [Eng.] (b) A large, predacious, hemipterous insect (Prionotus cristatus); the wheel bug. [U.S.] Devil's darning-needle. (Zo["o]l.) See under Darn, v. t. Devil's fingers, Devil's hand (Zo["o]l.), the common British starfish (Asterias rubens); -- also applied to a sponge with stout branches. [Prov. Eng., Irish & Scot.] Devil's riding-horse (Zo["o]l.), the American mantis (Mantis Carolina). The Devil's tattoo, a drumming with the fingers or feet. "Jack played the Devil's tattoo on the door with his boot heels." --F. Hardman (Blackw. Mag.). Devil worship, worship of the power of evil; -- still practiced by barbarians who believe that the good and evil forces of nature are of equal power. Printer's devil, the youngest apprentice in a printing office, who runs on errands, does dirty work (as washing the ink rollers and sweeping), etc. "Without fearing the printer's devil or the sheriff's officer." --Macaulay. Tasmanian devil (Zo["o]l.), a very savage carnivorous marsupial of Tasmania (Dasyurus, or Diabolus, ursinus). To play devil with, to molest extremely; to ruin. [Low]
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Devil
Dev"il\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Deviledor Devilled; p. pr. & vb. n. Devilingor Devilling.]1. To make like a devil; to invest with the character of a devil. 2. To grill with Cayenne pepper; to season highly in cooking, as with pepper. A deviled leg of turkey. --W. Irving.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Devil
(Gr. diabolos), a slanderer, the arch-enemy of man's spiritual interest (Job 1:6; Rev. 2:10; Zech. 3:1). He is called also "the accuser of the brethen" (Rev. 12:10). In Lev. 17:7 the word "devil" is the translation of the Hebrew _sair_, meaning a "goat" or "satyr" (Isa. 13:21; 34:14), alluding to the wood-daemons, the objects of idolatrous worship among the heathen. In Deut. 32:17 and Ps. 106:37 it is the translation of Hebrew _shed_, meaning lord, and idol, regarded by the Jews as a "demon," as the word is rendered in the Revised Version. In the narratives of the Gospels regarding the "casting out of devils" a different Greek word (daimon) is used. In the time of our Lord there were frequent cases of demoniacal possession (Matt. 12:25-30; Mark 5:1-20; Luke 4:35; 10:18, etc.).
Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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