play the devil with

verb

To cause great trouble or distress to.

Similar
play the cat and banjo withplay merry havoc withplay merry hell withplay Old Harry withplay the deuce withplay the dickens withplay the mischief with
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Meanings

verbplay the devil with (third-person singular simple present plays the devil with, present participle playing the devil with, simple past and past participle played the devil with)

present singular third person plays the devil with · participle present playing the devil with · participle past played the devil with · past played the devil with

  1. colloquialidiomaticTo cause great trouble or distress to.

    There's a silly young fool; but perhaps it's not entirely his fault. The last six months of the war played the devil with many an unformed character.

    1937, Rupert Penny, The Talkative Policeman, page 166

    Synonyms: play the cat and banjo with, play merry havoc with, play merry hell with, play Old Harry with, play the deuce with, play the dickens with, play the mischief with

Synonyms & antonyms

verbTo cause great trouble or distress to.

Similar
play the cat and banjo withplay merry havoc withplay merry hell withplay Old Harry withplay the deuce withplay the dickens withplay the mischief with
Also see
mess withplay hell withplay merry havoc withplay merry hell withplay old harry withplay the cat and banjo withplay the deuce withplay the dickens withplay the mischief with
Cite this entry
APA

play the devil with. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/play%20the%20devil%20with

MLA

“play the devil with.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/play%20the%20devil%20with. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “play the devil with,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/play%20the%20devil%20with.

Source: play the devil with on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.