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View synonyms for device

device

[ dih-vahys ]

noun

  1. a thing made for a particular purpose; an invention or contrivance, especially a mechanical or electrical one.

    Synonyms: gadget

  2. a plan or scheme for effecting a purpose.

    Synonyms: design, project

  3. a crafty scheme; trick.

    Synonyms: maneuver, stratagem, artifice, ruse, wile

  4. a particular word pattern, figure of speech, combination of word sounds, etc., used in a literary work to evoke a desired effect or arouse a desired reaction in the reader:

    rhetorical devices.

  5. Students may not bring devices into the secure testing center.

    Don't leave your devices in a hot car.

  6. something elaborately or fancifully designed.
  7. a representation or design used as a heraldic charge or as an emblem, badge, trademark, or the like.
  8. a motto.

    Synonyms: legend, slogan

  9. Archaic. devising; invention.


device

/ dɪˈvaɪs /

noun

  1. a machine or tool used for a specific task; contrivance
  2. euphemistic.
    a bomb
  3. a plan or plot, esp a clever or evil one; scheme; trick
  4. any ornamental pattern or picture, as in embroidery
  5. computer hardware that is designed for a specific function
  6. a written, printed, or painted design or figure, used as a heraldic sign, emblem, trademark, etc
  7. a particular pattern of words, figures of speech, etc, used in literature to produce an effect on the reader
  8. archaic.
    the act or process of planning or devising
  9. leave someone to his own devices
    leave someone to his own devices to leave someone alone to do as he wishes


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Other Words From

  • de·viceful adjective
  • de·viceful·ly adverb
  • de·viceful·ness noun

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Word History and Origins

Origin of device1

First recorded in 1375–1425; blend of late Middle English devis “discourse, division” and devise “heraldic device, will,” both from Anglo-French, Old French, from Latin dīvīsa, feminine of dīvīsus “divided, separated”; divisible

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Word History and Origins

Origin of device1

C13: from Old French devis purpose, contrivance and devise difference, intention, from deviser to divide, control; see devise

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Idioms and Phrases

see leave to someone's own devices .

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Example Sentences

Rothamer and colleagues tested devices called mask fitters or mask braces — rubber or plastic frames that fit over the mask molding it more closely to the face.

Today he knows that magic was simply the diversity of a forest left to its own devices.

That’s not surprising, after all, 85% of all internet users in the United States watched online video content monthly on any of their devices.

In others, we get impatient and set off explosive charges or use a powerful sound-making device.

New platforms will include slip-resistant tiles, LED lighting, larger digital displays with arrival information and service alerts, stainless-steel shelters, improved surveillance systems and charging ports for riders’ digital devices.

I still do find it a tremendously useful device to invent a character and have the character sing the song.

Employees strap a device to their heads and power a helicopter drone with their minds.

The extending out of one syllable is a great songwriting device.

They double down on the plot device of a lone visionary opposed by conventional hierarchies.

So filmmakers usually resort to a plot device to compensate for this absence.

This takes at first the crude device of a couple of vertical lines attached to the head (see Fig. 4).

That was not the device of a woman who loved—it savored rather of the cool state-craft of a Lucrezia Borgia.

This would be a device for helping him to revive this hitherto unrecallable name.

By a device resorted to in each separate case to help make a more vivid First Impression.

It is the fashion there to regard it merely as a device to help an incompetent organist.

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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