devil \dev"il\, n. as. de'ofol, de'oful; akin to g. ?eufel,
   goth. diaba'ulus; 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.
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            jesus being forty days tempted of the devil.
                                                  --luke iv. 2.
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            that old serpent, called the devil, and satan, which
            deceiveth the whole world.            --rev. xii. 9.
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   2. an evil spirit; a demon.
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            a dumb man possessed with a devil.    --matt. ix.
                                                  32.
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   3. a very wicked person; hence, any great evil. "that devil
      glendower." "the devil drunkenness." --shak.
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            have not i chosen you twelve, and one of you is a
            devil?                                --john vi. 70.
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   4. an expletive of surprise, vexation, or emphasis, or,
      ironically, of negation. low
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            the devil a puritan that he is, . . . but a
            timepleaser.                          --shak.
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            the things, we know, are neither rich nor rare,
            but wonder how the devil they got there. --pope.
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   5. cookery a dish, as a bone with the meat, broiled and
      excessively peppered; a grill with cayenne pepper.
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            men and women busy in baking, broiling, roasting
            oysters, and preparing devils on the gridiron. --sir
                                                  w. scott.
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   6. manuf. a machine for tearing or cutting rags, cotton,
      etc.
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   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. --longfellow.

   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." --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 zool., a very savage carnivorous
      marsupial of tasmania dasyurus ursinus syn. diabolus
      ursinus.

   to play devil with, to molest extremely; to ruin. low
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see also:
diabolic blue devils blue cartesian devil cartesian devil bird 
edolius retifer edolius remifer devil may care devil's apron laminaria saccharina 
laminaria longicruris devil's coachhorse ocypus olens prionotus cristatus devil's darning-needle 
darn devil's fingers devil's hand asterias rubens devil's riding-horse 
mantis carolina the devil's tattoo devil worship printer's devil tasmanian devil 
dasyurus ursinus diabolus ursinus to play devil with