devil
/ˈdɛvəl/ proper noun, noun, verb
Forms the devil devils deviling devilling deviled devilled davil debbil diuel divel divil deuill devel devell devill diuell
- proper noun (theology) The chief devil; Satan.
- noun (theology) An evil creature, the objectification of a hostile and destructive force.
- noun (folklore) A man with red or orange skin and a pair of horns on his head, a pointed goatee, and a long tail, who carries a pitchfork, represents evil, and is portrayed to children as a boogeyman who punishes bad behavior.
- noun The bad part of the conscience; the opposite to the angel. “The devil in me wants to let him suffer.”
- noun 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.”
- noun A thing that is awkward or difficult to understand or do. “That math problem was a devil.”
- noun (euphemistic, with an article, as an intensifier) Hell. “What in the devil is that?”
- noun A person, especially a man; used to express a particular opinion of him, usually in the phrases poor devil and lucky devil.
- noun A printer's assistant.
- verb To make like a devil; to invest with the character of a devil.
- verb To annoy or bother.
- verb (intransitive) To work as a ‘devil’; to work for a lawyer or writer without fee or recognition.
- verb To ghostwrite; to author while working as a ‘devil’.
- verb To prepare (food) with spices, making it spicy:
- verb To finely grind (cooked ham or other meat) with spices and condiments.
- verb To prepare (shelled halved boiled eggs, as a sidedish) by removing the yolks, adding condiments and spices to them, and placing that mixture back into (the halved eggs' whites) to be served. “She's going to devil four dozen eggs for the picnic.”
- verb To shred fabric into its fibres for recycling, as in the production of mungo or shoddy.
Synonyms
Aduwallah Adversary Al-Shaytaan Antichrist archfiend Ash-Shaytan Azazel Beast Beelzebub bogey cosmocrat deceiver deuce diablo Diabolus dickens Dragon Enemy Evil One Father of Lies Satan Old Nick Lucifer the Tempter Prince of Darkness fiend demon daemon daimon hellion
Antonyms
Etymology
From Middle English devil, devel, deovel, from Old English dēofol, from Proto-West Germanic *diubul, from Latin diabolus, ultimately from Ancient Greek διάβολος (diábolos, “false accuser, slanderer”), also as "Satan" (in Jewish/Christian usage, translating Biblical Hebrew שָׂטָן (śātān)), from διαβάλλω (diabállō, “to slander”), literally “to throw across”, from διά (diá, “through, across”) + βάλλω (bállō, “throw”). The Old English word was probably adopted under influence of Latin diabolus (itself from the Greek). Other Germanic languages adopted the word independently: compare Saterland Frisian Düüwel (“devil”), West Frisian duvel (“devil”), Dutch duivel, duvel (“devil”), German Low German Düvel (“devil”), German Teufel (“devil”), Bavarian Teifl (“devil”), Danish djævel (“devil”), Swedish djävul (“devil”) (older: djefvul, Old Swedish diævul, Old Norse djǫfull). Doublet of diable, diablo, and diabolus.
See devil.
Webster’s 1913
- noun The Evil One; Satan, represented as the tempter and spiritual of mankind.
- noun An evil spirit; a demon.
- verb To make like a devil; to invest with the character of a devil.
- verb To grill with Cayenne pepper; to season highly in cooking, as with pepper.
Etymology [AS. deófol, deóful; akin to G. , Goth. diabaúlus; all fr. L. diabolus the devil, Gr. gal to fall. Cf. Diabolic.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “devil”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details