Definitions for: Devil


[n] a word used in exclamations of confusion; "what the devil"; "the deuce with it"; "the dickens you say"
[n] one of the evil spirits of traditional Jewish and Christian belief
[n] (Judeo-Christian and Islamic religions) chief spirit of evil and adversary of God; tempter of mankind; master of Hell
[n] a rowdy or mischievous person (usually a young man); "he chased the young hellions out of his yard"
[n] a cruel wicked and inhuman person
[v] coat or stuff with a spicy paste; "devilled eggs"
[v] cause annoyance in; disturb, esp. by minor irritations; "Mosquitoes buzzing in my ear really bothers me"; "It irritates me that she never closes the door after she leaves"



Webster (1913) Definition: Dev"il, n. [AS. de['o]fol, de['o]ful; akin to G. ?eufel,
Goth. diaba['u]lus; all fr. L. diabolus the devil, Gr. ? the
devil, the slanderer, fr. ? to slander, calumniate, orig., to
throw across; ? across + ? to throw, let fall, fall; cf. Skr.
gal to fall. Cf. Diabolic.]
1. The Evil One; Satan, represented as the tempter and
spiritual of mankind.

[Jesus] being forty days tempted of the devil.
--Luke iv. 2.

That old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which
deceiveth the whole world. --Rev. xii. 9.

2. An evil spirit; a demon.

A dumb man possessed with a devil. --Matt. ix.
32.

3. A very wicked person; hence, any great evil. ``That devil
Glendower.'' ``The devil drunkenness.'' --Shak.

Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a
devil? --John vi. 70.

4. An expletive of surprise, vexation, or emphasis, or,
ironically, of negation. [Low]

The devil a puritan that he is, . . . but a
timepleaser. --Shak.

The things, we know, are neither rich nor rare, But
wonder how the devil they got there. --Pope.

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. --Sir
W. Scott.

6. (Manuf.) A machine for tearing or cutting rags, cotton,
etc.

Blue devils. See under Blue.

Cartesian devil. See under Cartesian.

Devil bird (Zo["o]l.), one of two or more South African
drongo shrikes (Edolius retifer, and E. remifer),
believed by the natives to be connected with sorcery.

Devil may care, reckless, defiant of authority; -- used
adjectively. --Longfellow.

Devil's apron (Bot.), the large kelp ({Laminaria
saccharina}, and L. longicruris) of the Atlantic ocean,
having a blackish, leathery expansion, shaped somewhat
like an apron.

Devil's coachhorse. (Zo["o]l.)
(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. (Zo["o]l.) See under Darn, v. t.


Devil's fingers, Devil's hand (Zo["o]l.), the common
British starfish (Asterias rubens); -- also applied to a
sponge with stout branches. [Prov. Eng., Irish & Scot.]

Devil's riding-horse (Zo["o]l.), 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.'' --F. Hardman (Blackw. Mag.).

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.'' --Macaulay.

Tasmanian devil (Zo["o]l.), a very savage carnivorous
marsupial of Tasmania (Dasyurus, or Diabolus, ursinus).


To play devil with, to molest extremely; to ruin. [Low]


Dev"il, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Deviledor Devilled; p.
pr. & vb. n. Devilingor 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. --W. Irving.

Synonyms: annoy, Beelzebub, bother, chafe, daemon, daimon, demon, deuce, dickens, fiend, get at, get to, gravel, heller, hellion, irritate, Lucifer, monster, nark, nettle, ogre, Old Nick, Prince of Darkness, rag, rile, Satan, Shaytan, the Devil, the Tempter, vex

See Also: antagonise, antagonize, bad hat, beset, chevvy, chevy, chivvy, chivy, cook, demoniac, dibbuk, disagreeable person, displease, dybbuk, eat into, evil spirit, exclaiming, exclamation, fix, fret, get, grate, harass, harry, hassle, incubus, make, mischief-maker, molest, peeve, plague, prepare, provoke, rankle, ready, ruffle, spiritual being, succuba, succubus, supernatural being, trouble maker, troublemaker, troubler, unpleasant person

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