the devil

alternative the Devil

1. idiomaticnot comparableUsed to add emphasis to a question or statement.

   What the devil are you doing here at this time of night?

   2 more examples

   VVhat is he an honeſt man? the deuill he is, he is the Parſon of the Towne, You thinke ther’s no knauerie hid vnder a black gowne, Find him in a pulpit but twiſe in the yeare, And Ile find him fortie times in the ale-houſe taſting ſtrong beare.

   1593, anonymous author, The Life and Death of Iacke Straw […], →OCLC, Act I

   “Brother,” said she, “whatever message Mr Blifil thinks proper to send to my niece shall be delivered to her; and I suppose she will want no instructions to make a proper answer. I am convinced she will not refuse to see Mr Blifil at a proper time.”—“The devil she won’t!” answered the squire.

   1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling

   Synonyms: the dickens

1. not comparableAlternative letter-case form of the devil.

   Who the Devil are you? Where the Devil do you come from / And what the Devil are you doing crusted up like a cloud-cuckoo?

   1982, The London Magazine, page 3

   2 more examples

   What’s all this!-⁠-⁠-what’s here to do!-⁠-⁠-what the Devil are you all about!-⁠-⁠-Zounds! who do you want here, Mr. Trueman?

   1771, Amyas Griffith, The Swadler. A New Comedy of Three Acts., Clonmell: […] Edward Collins, page 38

   “Whatever did happen to you, sir? How the Devil did ye get captured? Once the Dons ran off, we couldn’t find hide nor hair of you.”

   2015, Dewey Lambdin, Kings and Emperors, Canelo, published 2020, →ISBN

1. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see the, Devil.