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Devil   /dˈɛvəl/   Listen
noun
Devil  n.  
1.
The Evil One; Satan, represented as the tempter and spiritual of mankind. "(Jesus) being forty days tempted of the devil." "That old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world."
2.
An evil spirit; a demon. "A dumb man possessed with a devil."
3.
A very wicked person; hence, any great evil. "That devil Glendower." "The devil drunkenness." "Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?"
4.
An expletive of surprise, vexation, or emphasis, or, ironically, of negation. (Low) "The devil a puritan that he is,... but a timepleaser." "The things, we know, are neither rich nor rare, But wonder how the devil they got there."
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."
6.
(Manuf.) A machine for tearing or cutting rags, cotton, etc.
Blue devils. See under Blue.
Cartesian devil. See under Cartesian.
Devil bird (Zool.), one of two or more South African drongo shrikes (Edolius retifer, and Edolius remifer), believed by the natives to be connected with sorcery.
Devil may care, reckless, defiant of authority; used adjectively.
Devil's apron (Bot.), the large kelp (Laminaria saccharina, and Laminaria longicruris) of the Atlantic ocean, having a blackish, leathery expansion, shaped somewhat like an apron.
Devil's coachhorse. (Zool.)
(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. (Zool.) See under Darn, v. t.
Devil's fingers, Devil's hand (Zool.), the common British starfish (Asterias rubens); also applied to a sponge with stout branches. (Prov. Eng., Irish & Scot.)
Devil's riding-horse (Zool.), 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."
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."
Tasmanian devil (Zool.), a very savage carnivorous marsupial of Tasmania (Dasyurus ursinus syn. Diabolus ursinus).
To play devil with, to molest extremely; to ruin. (Low)


verb
devil  v. t.  (past & past part. deviled or devilled; pres. part. deviling or 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."





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Devil" Quotes from Famous Books



... and drive the prey into his hands. When the war of annihilation broke out between man and man, then these higher Powers acquired a cruel and sanguinary character corresponding to the horribly altered form of the struggle for existence; the devil became the undisputed master of the world, which, regarded as thoroughly bad, was nevertheless worshipped as such. Next the struggle for supremacy superseded the struggle of annihilation; the first ...
— Freeland - A Social Anticipation • Theodor Hertzka
... Sir, in the first place, he who tells a hundred lies has disarmed the force of his lies[646]. But besides; a man had rather have a hundred lies told of him, than one truth which he does not wish should be told.' GOLDSMITH. 'For my part, I'd tell truth, and shame the devil.' JOHNSON. 'Yes, Sir; but the devil will be angry. I wish to shame the devil as much you do, but I should choose to be out of the reach of his claws.' GOLDSMITH. 'His claws can do you no harm, when you have the shield ...
— Life Of Johnson, Vol. 2 • Boswell
... brotherhood of those by whom they have been rebuked: saying, Physician heal thy Friends, look at home, among your Brotherhood, even among the wisest of you, and see if you your selves be clear, even you professors: for who is prouder than you professors? scarcesly the Devil himself. ...
— The Life and Death of Mr. Badman • John Bunyan
... of 1845 as the ground would permit, they re-packed their goods and stores, hung out the white sails of their prairie schooner and pursued their journey up the north fork of the Platte, crossed the Red Buttes, went through Devil's Gate, skirted the banks of the Sweet Water River, and winding through the great South Pass, diverted their course to the north in the direction of the head-waters of Snake River, which would guide them by its current ...
— Woman on the American Frontier • William Worthington Fowler
... the same idea: "Oh, that our prelates would bee as diligent to sowe the corne of goode doctrine as Sathan is to sow Cockel and Darnel." . . . "There was never such a preacher in England as he (the devil) is. Who is able to tel his dylygent preaching? which every daye and every houre laboreth to sowe Cockel and Darnel" (Latimer's Fourth Sermon). And to the same ...
— The plant-lore & garden-craft of Shakespeare • Henry Nicholson Ellacombe


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