English
devil
see also: Devil
Pronunciation
  • enPR: dĕvʹəl, IPA: /ˈdɛvəl/
  • (rare, dated) enPR: dĕvʹîl, IPA: /ˈdɛvɪl/
Noun

devil (plural devils)

  1. (theology) An evil creature.
  2. (theology, singular only) (the devil or the Devil) The chief devil; Satan.
  3. (folklore) A fictional image of a man, usually red or orange in skin color; with a set of horns on his head, a pointed goatee and a long tail and carrying a pitchfork; that represents evil.
  4. The bad part of the conscience; the opposite to the angel.
    The devil in me wants to let him suffer.
  5. 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.
  6. A thing that is awkward or difficult to understand or do.
    That math problem was a devil.
  7. (euphemistic, with an article, as an intensifier) Hell.
    What in the devil is that? What the devil is that?
    She is having a devil of a time fixing it.
    You can go to the devil for all I care.
  8. A person, especially a man; used to express a particular opinion of him, usually in the phrases poor devil and lucky devil.
  9. A dust devil.
  10. (religion, Christian Science) An evil or erring entity.
  11. (dialectal, in compounds) A barren, unproductive and unused area.
    devil strip
  12. (cookery) A dish, as a bone with the meat, broiled and excessively peppered; a grill with Cayenne pepper.
    • 1815 February 23, [Walter Scott], Guy Mannering; or, The Astrologer. [...] In Three Volumes, volume (please specify ), Edinburgh: Printed by James Ballantyne and Co. for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and Archibald Constable and Co., […], OCLC 742335644 ↗:
  13. A machine for tearing or cutting rags, cotton, etc.
  14. A Tasmanian devil.
  15. (cycling, slang) An endurance event where riders who fall behind are periodically eliminated.
Synonyms Antonyms Related terms Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations
  • Russian: чертовщи́на
Translations Translations Translations Verb

devil (devils, present participle deviling; past and past participle deviled)

  1. To make like a devil; to invest with the character of a devil.
  2. To annoy or bother; to bedevil.
  3. To work as a ‘devil’; to work for a lawyer or writer without fee or recognition.
    • 1978, Lawrence Durrell, Livia, Faber & Faber 1992 (Avignon Quintet), page 401:
      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.
  4. To prepare (food) with spices, making it spicy:
    1. To grill with cayenne pepper; to season highly in cooking, as with pepper.
    2. To finely grind cooked ham or other meat with spices and condiments.
    3. To prepare a sidedish of shelled halved boiled eggs to whose extracted yolks are added condiments and spices, which mixture then is placed into the halved whites to be served.
      She's going to devil four dozen eggs for the picnic.
Synonyms Translations
Devil
Proper noun
  1. (theology) The chief devil; Satan.
    Synonyms: Thesaurus:Satan


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