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deuce - 7 dictionary results

deuce

1  [doos, dyoos]
Use deuce in a Sentence
–noun
1. Cards. a card having two pips; a two, or two-spot.
2. Dice.
a. the face of a die having two pips.
b. a cast or point of two.
3. Tennis. a situation, as a score of 40–40 in a game or 5–5 in a match, in which a player must score two successive points to win the game or two successive games to win the set.
4. Slang.
a. a two-dollar bill.
b. the sum of two dollars.
–adjective
5. (esp. in games, sports, and gambling) two.
Origin:
1425–75; late ME deus < AF, MF: two < L duōs (masc. acc. of duo)

deuce

2  [doos, dyoos]
–noun
devil; dickens (used as a mild oath): Where the deuce did they hide it?
Origin:
1645–55; appar. to be identified with deuce 1
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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deuce 1   (dōōs, dyōōs)   
n.  
    1. A playing card having two spots or the side of a die bearing two pips.
    2. A cast of dice totaling two.
  2. A tied score in tennis in which each player or side has 40 points, or 5 or more games, and one player or side must win 2 successive points to win the game, or 2 successive games to win the set.
tr.v.   deuced, deuc·ing, deuc·es
To make the score of (a tennis game or set) deuce.

[Middle English deus, from Old French, two, from Latin duōs, masculine accusative of duo; see dwo- in Indo-European roots.]
deuce 2   (dōōs, dyōōs)   
n.  
  1. The devil: "Love is a bodily infirmity . . . which breaks out the deuce knows how or why" (Thackeray).
  2. An outstanding example, especially of something difficult or bad: had a deuce of a time getting out of town; a deuce of a family row.
  3. A severe reprimand or expression of anger: got the deuce for being late.
  4. Used as an intensive: What the deuce were they thinking of?

[Probably from Low German duus, a throw of two in dice games, bad luck, ultimately from Latin duo, two; see deuce1.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Deuce

Deuce\ (d[=u]s), n. [F. deux two, OF. deus, fr. L. duo. See Two.]

1. (Gaming) Two; a card or a die with two spots; as, the deuce of hearts.

2. (Tennis) A condition of the score beginning whenever each side has won three strokes in the same game (also reckoned "40 all"), and reverted to as often as a tie is made until one of the sides secures two successive strokes following a tie or deuce, which decides the game.

Deuce

Deuce\, n. [Cf. LL. dusius, Armor, dus, te[^u]z, phantom, specter; Gael. taibhs, taibhse, apparition, ghost; or fr. OF. deus God, fr. L. deus (cf. Deity).] The devil; a demon. [A euphemism, written also deuse.] [Low]
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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deuce 
c.1475, "a roll of 2 in dice," from M.Fr. deus, from L. duos (nom. duo) "two." Became a mild oath by 1710, about 50 years after it was first attested in the sense of "bad luck, the devil, etc.," perhaps because two was the lowest score, and probably by similarity to L. deus and related words meaning "god." Low Ger. had der daus! in same sense 16c., which probably influenced the Eng. form. Deuce coup is 1940s hot-rodder slang for "souped up two-door car," especially a 1932 Ford.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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