devil

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  THE DEVIL'S PUNCH-BOWL
• WordNet 3.6
  • v devil coat or stuff with a spicy paste "devilled eggs"
  • v devil cause annoyance in; disturb, especially by minor irritations "Mosquitoes buzzing in my ear really bothers me","It irritates me that she never closes the door after she leaves"
  • n devil a word used in exclamations of confusion "what the devil","the deuce with it","the dickens you say"
  • n devil an evil supernatural being
  • n Devil (Judeo-Christian and Islamic religions) chief spirit of evil and adversary of God; tempter of mankind; master of Hell
  • n devil a rowdy or mischievous person (usually a young man) "he chased the young hellions out of his yard"
  • n devil a cruel wicked and inhuman person
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Additional illustrations & photos:

The Devil's Jumps, beyond Frensham Pond

The Devil's Jumps, from Frensham Common

The Devil's Punch Bowl, from Gibbet Hill

Seeing the Poor Devils Who Had Gone Broke 166

And So This is the Champion Little Devil of America 357

The Chamber is Already Full of Devils--3-23-294

The Devil Came to the Place--4-48-496

THE MAN POSSESSED BY DEVILS

• Interesting fact: In Australia, a dust-devil is called a "willy-willy
• • Devil (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."
  • Devil (Manuf) A machine for tearing or cutting rags, cotton, etc.
  • Devil A very wicked person; hence, any great evil. "That devil Glendower.""The devil drunkenness.""Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil ?"
  • Devil An evil spirit; a demon. "A dumb man possessed with a devil ."
  • Devil An expletive of surprise, vexation, or emphasis, or, ironically, of negation. "The devil a puritan that he is, . . . but a timepleaser.""The things, we know, are neither rich nor rare,
    But wonder how the devil they got there."
  • Devil The Evil One; Satan, represented as the tempter and spiritual of mankind. "Jesus] being forty days tempted of the devil .""That old serpent, called the Devil , and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world."
  • devil To grill with Cayenne pepper; to season highly in cooking, as with pepper. "A deviled leg of turkey."
  • devil To make like a devil; to invest with the character of a devil.
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• Interesting fact: Spiral staircases in medieval castles are running clockwise. This is because all knights used to be right-handed. When the intruding army would climb the stairs they would not be able to use their right hand which was holding the sword because of the difficulties of climbing the stairs. Left-handed knights would have had no troubles, except left-handed people could never become knights because it was assumed that they were descendants of the devil
• • n devil A false accuser; a traducer or slanderer.
  • n devil [This use of the original term διάβολος occurs several times in the New Testament (1 Tim. iii. 11; 2 Tim. iii. 3; Tit. ii. 3), but this is the only instance in which, when so used, it is rendered devil in the English versions.]
  • n devil In Christian theology, a powerful spirit of evil, otherwise called Satan (the adversary or opposer): with the definite article, and always in the singular. He is frequently referred to as the Evil One, the prince of the powers of the air, the prince of darkness, Beelzebub, Belial, the tempter, the old serpent, the dragon, etc. He is represented in the New Testament as a person, the enemy of God and of holiness, and bent on the ruin of man, but possessing only limited power, subordinate to God, able to operate only in such ways as God permits, and capable of being made subservient to God's will. In this respect he differs from Ahriman, the evil principle in the dualistic system of the Persians, who was coeval and coördinate with Ormuzd, the spirit of light and goodness, and from the devil of the Gnostic and Manichean systems. The medieval conception of the devil was largely derived from pagan mythology.
  • n devil [Used in the English versions of the New Testament to translate the Greek δαιμόνιον and δαίμων, a spirit or demon: see demon.] A subordinate evil spirit at enmity with God, and having power to afflict man both with bodily disease and with spiritual corruption; one of the malignant spirits employed by Satan as his agents in his work of evil; a demon. See demoniacal.
  • n devil A false god; an idol. [In the authorized version of the Old Testament the word devil occurs four times: twice (Lev. xvii. 7; 2 Chron. xi. 15) translating Hebrew sairim, rendered in the revised version “he-goats” or “satyrs,” and twice (Deut. xxxii. 17; Ps. cvi. 37) translating Hebrew shedim, rendered “demons” in the revised version. In the New Testament δαιμόνιον, or demon, is in one instance (see extract) rendered “devil,” in the sense of an object of gentile worship, an idol, a false god.]
  • n devil A person resembling a devil or demon in character; a malignantly wicked or cruel person; a fierce or fiendish person: often used with merely expletive or exaggerative force: as, he's the very devil for reckless dash.
  • n devil A fellow; a rogue: used generally with an epithet (little, poor, etc.), and expressing slight contempt or pity: as, a shrewd little devil; a poor devil (an unfortunate fellow).
  • n devil As an expletive: The deuce: now always with the article the, but formerly sometimes with the article a, or used absolutely, preceding a sentence or phrase, and serving, like deuce and other words of related import, as an ejaculation expressing sudden emotion, as surprise, wonder, vexation, or disgust.
  • n devil Before the indefinite article with a noun, an emphatic negative: as, devil a bit (not a bit). Compare fiend, Scotch fient, in similar use.
  • n devil An errand-boy in a printing-office. See printer's devil, below.
  • n devil A name of several instruments or mechanical contrivances. A machine for forming flocks of wool into a more uniform mass, and at the same time removing the mechanical impurities. Also called willower, willy.
  • n devil Among jewelers, a bunch of matted wire on which the parts ot lockets are placed for soldering.
  • n devil Nautical, the seam of a ship which margins the waterways: so called from its awkwardness of access in calking. Hence the phrase the devil to pay, etc. See below.
  • n devil The Venus's-comb, Scandix Pecten, from the long tapering beaks of the fruit.
  • n devil over which, when first finished, the devil is supposed to have looked with a fierce and terrific countenance, as incensed and alarmed at this costly instance of devotion. Ray thinks it more probable that it took its rise from a small image of the devil placed on the top of Lincoln College, Oxford, over which he looks, seemingly with much fury.” (Grose, Local Proverbs.)
  • devil To make devilish, or like a devil.
  • devil In cookery, to season highly with mustard, pepper, etc., and broil.
  • devil To bother; torment.
  • devil To cut up, as cloth or rags, by means of a machine called a devil.
  • n devil A junior counsel who assists his superior, usually without financial reward.
  • n devil In mathematics, a curve whose equation is y — x + ay + bx = o.
  • n devil A ‘literary’ or professional ‘hack’; one who does professional work for another who gets all the credit.
  • n devil Gunpowder moistened with water or alcohol so as to destroy the granulation and form a paste: used as a sort of firework by boys, and as a priming or fuse.
  • n devil A moving whirlwind carrying up columns of sand, such as are common in India, Persia, and countries having dry seasons: sometimes called dancing-devil or desert devil, and known in upper India by the local name bagoola (Hind. bagū la).
  • n devil A highly seasoned dish of crabs, chicken, eggs, or the like, cooked together.
  • n devil The wheel-bug. Also called the devil's riding-horse.
  • n devil The American or Virginia virgin's-bower, Clematis Virginiana, so named from its gossamer-like fruit.
  • devil To do professional work (literary or legal) for another who receives all the credit, and sometimes also the remuneration or fee; act as a literary or legal devil.
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• Interesting fact: The term "devil's advocate" comes from the Roman Catholic Church. When deciding if someone should be sainted, a devil's advocate is always appointed to give an alternative view.
• • v.t Devil dev′l (cook.) to season highly and broil
  • v.i Devil to perform another man's drudgery (esp. to devil for a barrister)
  • n Devil dev′l the supreme spirit of evil, Satan: any evil spirit: a false god: a very wicked person: a fellow, as in 'Poor devil:' an expletive, in 'What the devil,' &c
  • adv Devil (coll.) very: exceedingly
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• Robert E. Lee

  

  “The devil's name is dullness.”
• Elizabeth Barrett Browning

  

  “The devil's most devilish when respectable.”
• Thomas Carlyle

  

  “The devil has his elect.”
• Vance Havner

  

  “The devil will let a preacher prepare a sermon if it will keep him from preparing himself.”
• Rowland Hill

  

  “Why should the devil have all the good tunes?”
• Sir Roger L'Estrange

  

  “The devil helps his servants for a season; but when they get into a pinch; he leaves them in the lurch.”

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