devil
Noun · VerbOpen English WordNet
Noun (5)devils
- (Judeo-Christian and Islamic religions) chief spirit of evil and adversary of God; tempter of mankind; master of HellSynonyms: SatanOld NickLuciferBeelzebubthe TempterPrince of DarknessInstance of spiritual being, supernatural being
- an evil supernatural beingSynonyms: fienddemondaemondaimonType of evil spiritKinds incubus, dybbuk, succubus
- a word used in exclamations of confusion“what the devil”“the deuce with it”“the dickens you say”Synonyms: deucedickensType of exclamation, exclaiming
- a rowdy or mischievous person (usually a young man)“he chased the young hellions out of his yard”Synonyms: hellionhellerType of troublemaker, trouble maker
- a cruel wicked and inhuman personSynonyms: monsterfienddemonogreType of unpleasant person, disagreeable personKinds demoniac
Verb (2)devilled, devilling, devils, deviled, deviling
- 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”Synonyms: annoyragget tobotherget atirritaterilenarknettlegravelvexchafeMore general displeaseMore specific harass, antagonize, ruffle, get, fret, eat into, peeveSimilar chafe
- coat or stuff with a spicy paste“devilled eggs”More general cook, fix
What does it mean? Question 1 of today’s quiz
Translations
Noun evil creature
- Spanish
- diablo
- French
- diable
- German
- Teufel
- Italian
- diavolo
- Portuguese
- diabo
- Turkish
- şeytan
- Russian
- дья́вол dʹjávol
- Arabic
- شَيْطَان šayṭān
- Chinese
- 魔鬼 móguǐ
- Japanese
- 悪魔 akuma
31 more languages
- Dutch
- duivel
- Polish
- diabeł
- Swedish
- djävul
- Greek
- διάβολος diávolos
- Korean
- 악마 angma
- Indonesian
- setan
- Vietnamese
- quỷ
- Hungarian
- ördög
- Portuguese (PT)
- diabo
- Chinese (Trad.)
- 魔鬼 móguǐ
- Albanian
- djall
- Catalan
- diable
- Czech
- ďábel
- Danish
- djævel
- Esperanto
- diablo
- Estonian
- kurat
- Finnish
- paholainen
- Georgian
- ეშმაკი ešmaḳi
- Hebrew
- שֵׁד shed
- Icelandic
- djöfull
- Latvian
- velns
- Lithuanian
- velnias
- Malagasy
- devoly
- Norwegian
- djevel
- Romanian
- diavol
- Serbo-Croatian
- vrag
- Slovak
- diabol
- Slovenian
- hudič
- Swahili
- shetani
- Welsh
- diafol
- Yiddish
- טײַוול tayvl
Noun wicked or naughty person
The main translation for each meaning, from the langtolang.com multilingual dictionary. Each word links to its full entry there.
Webster's Dictionary (1913)
Origin: AS. deófol, deóful; akin to G. teufel, Goth. diabaúlus; all fr. L. diabolus the devil, Gr. διάβολος the devil, the slanderer, fr. διαβάλλω to slander, calumniate, orig., to throw across; διά across + βάλλω 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.” William Shakespeare
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. informal
The devil a puritan that he is,... but a timepleaser.— William Shakespeare
The things, we know, are neither rich nor rare, But wonder how the devil they got there.— Alexander Pope
5. Cooking 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 Walter Scott
6. Manufacturing A machine for tearing or cutting rags, cotton, etc.
Blue devils. See under Blue. — Cartesian devil. See under Cartesian. — Devil bird Zoology, 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. Henry W. Longfellow — Devil's apron Botany, 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. Zoology (a) The black rove beetle (Ocypus olens). British (b) A large, predacious, hemipterous insect (Prionotus cristatus); the wheel bug. U.S. — Devil's darning-needle. Zoology See under Darn, transitive verb — Devil's fingers, Devil's hand Zoology, the common British starfish (Asterias rubens); — also applied to a sponge with stout branches. Prov. Eng., Irish & Scot. — Devil's riding-horse Zoology, 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.” Thomas Babington Macaulay — Tasmanian devil Zoology, a very savage carnivorous marsupial of Tasmania (Dasyurus ursinus syn. Diabolus ursinus). — To play devil with, to molest extremely; to ruin. informal
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.— Washington Irving
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54