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noun
1.
Theology.
a.
(sometimes initial capital letter) the supreme spirit of evil; Satan.
b.
a subordinate evil spirit at enmity with God, and having power to afflict humans both with bodily disease and with spiritual corruption.
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.
EXPANDAlso 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.
COLLAPSEthe devil, (used as an emphatic expletive or mild oath to express disgust, anger, astonishment, negation, etc.): What the devil do you mean by that?
verb (used with object)
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.
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Between the devil and the deep sea
is always a great word to know.
So is ninnyhammer. Does it mean:
| a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question. |
| a fool or simpleton; ninny. |
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,
a.
to fail completely; lose all hope or chance of succeeding.
b.
to become depraved.
c.
(an expletive expressing annoyance, disgust, impatience, etc.)
17.
EXPANDlet 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,
a.
to cause a commotion or disturbance.
b.
to celebrate wildly; revel.
c.
to make an emphatic protest or take drastic measures.
20.
COLLAPSEthe devil to pay, trouble to be faced; mischief in the offing: If conditions don't improve, there will be the devil to pay.
Origin:
before 900; Middle English devel, Old English dēofol < Late Latin diabolus < Greek diábolos Satan (Septuagint, NT), literally, slanderer (noun), slanderous (adj.), verbid of diabállein to assault someone's character, literally, to throw across, equivalent to dia- dia- + bállein to throw
before 900; Middle English devel, Old English dēofol < Late Latin diabolus < Greek diábolos Satan (Septuagint, NT), literally, slanderer (noun), slanderous (adj.), verbid of diabállein to assault someone's character, literally, to throw across, equivalent to dia- dia- + bállein to throw
Related forms
out·dev·il, verb (used with object), out·dev·iled, out·dev·il·ing or (especially British) out·dev·illed, out·dev·il·ling.
sub·dev·il, noun
un·der·dev·il, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source
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