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." Shak.
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. [Low]
The devil a puritan that he is, . . . but a timepleaser.
Shak.
The things, we know, are neither rich nor rare,
But wonder how the devil they got there.
Pope. 5. (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.
Sir W.
Scott. 6. (Manuf.) A machine for tearing or cutting rags, cotton, etc.
Blue devils.
See under Blue. — Cartesian devil. See under Cartesian. — Devil bird (Zoöl.),
one of two or more South African drongo shrikes 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 L. longicruris) of the Atlantic ocean, having a blackish,
leathery expansion, shaped somewhat like an apron. — Devil's coachhorse. (Zoöl.) (a) The black
rove beetle [Eng.] (b) A large, predacious, hemipterous insect (Prionotus cristatus); the wheel bug.
[U.S.] — Devil's darning-needle. (Zoöl.) See under Darn, v. t. — Devil's fingers, Devil's hand
(Zoöl.), the common British starfish (Asterias rubens); — also applied to a sponge with stout branches.
[Prov. Eng., Irish & Scot.] — Devil's riding-horse (Zoöl.), the American mantis — 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 — 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 etc. "Without fearing the printer's devil or
the sheriff's officer." Macaulay. — Tasmanian devil (Zoöl.), a very savage carnivorous marsupial of
Tasmania — To play devil with, to molest extremely; to ruin. [Low]
Devil
(Dev"il) v. t. [imp. & p. p. Deviled or Devilled; p. pr. & vb. n. Deviling or Devilling.]
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.
W. Irving. Devil-diver
(Dev"il-div`er Dev"il bird`) n.. (Zoöl.) A small water bird. See Dabchick.
Deviless
(Dev"il*ess) n. A she- devil. [R.] Sterne.
Devilet
(Dev"il*et) n. A little devil. [R.] Barham.
Devilfish
(Dev"il*fish`) n. (Zoöl.) (a) A huge ray (Manta birostris or Cephaloptera vampyrus) of the
Gulf of Mexico and Southern Atlantic coasts. Several other related species take the same name. See
Cephaloptera. (b) A large cephalopod, especially the very large species of Octopus and Architeuthis.