devil

alternative Devil · alternative pronunciation spelling davil · alternative pronunciation spelling debbil · alternative archaic dialectal diuel · alternative archaic dialectal divel · alternative archaic dialectal divil · alternative obsolete deuill · alternative obsolete devel · alternative obsolete devell · alternative obsolete devill · alternative obsolete diuell

1. lifestyleThe chief devil; Satan.

   Synonyms: Aduwallah, Adversary, Al-Shaytaan, Antichrist, archfiend, Ash-Shaytan, Azazel, Beast · Antonyms: God

plural devils · alternative pronunciation spelling davil · alternative pronunciation spelling debbil · alternative archaic dialectal diuel · alternative archaic dialectal divel · alternative archaic dialectal divil · alternative obsolete deuill · alternative obsolete devel · alternative obsolete devell · alternative obsolete devill · alternative obsolete diuell

1. lifestyleAn evil creature, the objectification of a hostile and destructive force.

   Synonyms: demon · Antonyms: angel, god

2. artsA man with red or orange skin and a pair of horns on his head, a pointed goatee, and a long tail, who carries a pitchfork, represents evil, and is portrayed to children as a boogeyman who punishes bad behavior.
3. The bad part of the conscience; the opposite to the angel.

   The devil in me wants to let him suffer.

   Antonyms: angel, conscience

4. A wicked or naughty person, or one who harbors reckless, spirited energy, especially in a mischievous way; usually said of a young child.

   Those two kids are devils in a toy store.

   Synonyms: imp, rascal, scamp, scoundrel · Antonyms: angel, saint

5. A thing that is awkward or difficult to understand or do.

   That math problem was a devil.

   Synonyms: bastard, bitch, bugger, stinker · Antonyms: cakewalk, piece of cake

6. euphemisticHell.

   What the devil is that?

   3 more examples

   What in the devil is that?

   She is having a devil of a time fixing it.

   You can go to the devil for all I care.

   Synonyms: deuce, dickens, fuck, heck, hell

7. A person, especially a man; used to express a particular opinion of him, usually in the phrases poor devil and lucky devil.

   'Well, I'm damned,' said Bond. 'Of course that old devil M never told me. He just gives one the facts. Never tells one any good news. I suppose he thinks it might influence one's decision to take a case or not.'

   1954, Ian Fleming, “The Red Carpet”, in Live and Let Die, London: Pan Books, published 1957, page 8

   Synonyms: bugger, cow, sod

8. A printer's assistant.

   For he will not leave his listener to dwell upon sorrow when the print office beckons and he can show you what a good little devil he became.

   2010, Andrea Levy, The Long Song, Tinder Press (2017), page 381

   Synonyms: printer's devil

9. IndiaA poltergeist that haunts printing works.
10. AustraliaIrelandUKA lawyer’s assistant.
11. A dust devil.

    There are few sights more appalling than a sandstorm in the desert, the "Zauba'ah" as the Arabs call it. Devils, or pillars of sand, vertical and inclined, measuring a thousand feet high[.]

    1885, Richard F. Burton, chapter XII, in The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, volume I, The Burton Club, page 114 footnote

    1 more example

    The formation of tornados and water-spouts is very probably identical with that of dust-storms and "devils," viz., a sudden disturbance of the vertical equilibrium of the atmosphere, where by an upward rush of air is generated, which rapidly becomes spiral.

    1877, H. F. Blandford, Indian Meteorologist's Vade-mecum, page 140

12. dialectalin compoundsA barren, unproductive and unused area.

    devil strip

13. cookingA 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.

    1815 February 24, [Walter Scott], Guy Mannering; or, The Astrologer. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and Archibald Constable and Co., […], →OCLC

14. A machine for tearing or cutting rags, cotton, etc., as used in the production of mungo or shoddy.

    The woollen things are torn to pieces by a machine having spiked rollers (termed a devil), cleansed, and the fibre spun with a certain proportion of new wool, the yarn being afterwards woven into the full-bodied but flimsy fabric termed shoddy.

    1918, Henry J. Spooner, Wealth from Waste: Elimination of Waste A World Problem, George Routledge & Sons, →ISBN, →OCLC, →OL, page 200

15. A Tasmanian devil.

    In the 1800s, for example, workers at a wool company were scared that the devils would attack their sheep.

    2008, Joyce L. Markovics, Tasmanian Devil: Nighttime Scavenger, page 8

    1 more example

    He removes his food, water, and torch from the pack and then pushes it to the far end of the tent – no devil is going to rip his pack apart tonight.

    1999, Julia Leigh, The Hunter, Faber & Faber 2012, p. 32

16. slangcyclingAn endurance event where riders who fall behind are periodically eliminated.
17. abbreviationellipsisnauticalEllipsis of devil seam (“the seam between garboard strake and the keel, on wooden boats”).

present singular third person devils · US participle present deviling · UK participle present devilling · US participle past deviled · US past deviled · UK participle past devilled · UK past devilled · alternative pronunciation spelling davil · alternative pronunciation spelling debbil · alternative archaic dialectal diuel · alternative archaic dialectal divel · alternative archaic dialectal divil · alternative obsolete deuill · alternative obsolete devel · alternative obsolete devell · alternative obsolete devill

1. To make like a devil; to invest with the character of a devil.
2. To annoy or bother.

   Synonyms: bedevil, aggravate, annoy, nettle, rankle, ruffle, sting, burn someone's ass

3. intransitiveTo work as a ‘devil’; to work for a lawyer or writer without fee or recognition.

   He did not repeat the scathing estimate of her character by Quatrefages, who at that time spent one afternoon a week devilling at the Consulate, keeping the petty-cash box in order.

   1978, Lawrence Durrell, Livia (Avignon Quintet), Faber & Faber, published 1992, page 401

4. To ghostwrite; to author while working as a ‘devil’.

   Didn't secretaries write the speeches of Parliamentary "big-bugs"? Weren't the opinions of eminent lawyers often written by their juniors, read over and signed? Weren't briefs and pleadings devilled?

   1922, John Galsworthy, Conscience, page 4

5. To prepare (food) with spices, making it spicy

   […]; you could watch a buckwheat pancake whirled into existence under your eyes and see fowls' legs devilled, peppered, grilled, and tormented till they lost all semblance of the original Mariposa chicken.

   1912, Stephen Leacock, “The Hostelry of Mr. Smith”, in Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town, page 28

6. To prepare (food) with spices, making it spicy:
   1. To finely grind (cooked ham or other meat) with spices and condiments.
   2. To prepare (shelled halved boiled eggs, as a sidedish) by removing the yolks, adding condiments and spices to them, and placing that mixture back into (the halved eggs' whites) to be served.

      She's going to devil four dozen eggs for the picnic.

7. To shred fabric into its fibres for recycling, as in the production of mungo or shoddy.

   Tailors' clippings and remnants of fine woollen goods, such as broadcloth, etc., are devilled and spun into yarn for making cloth of nicer quality, called mungo.

   1918, Henry J. Spooner, Wealth from Waste: Elimination of Waste A World Problem, George Routledge & Sons, →ISBN, →OCLC, →OL, page 200

1. lifestyleThe chief devil; Satan.

   Synonyms: Aduwallah, Adversary, Al-Shaytaan, Antichrist, archfiend, Ash-Shaytan, Azazel, Beast