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| dev·il [ dévv'l ] |
noun (plural dev·ils) |
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| Definition: |
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1. God's enemy: in Christianity and some other religions, the enemy of God, who rules Hell, tempts people to sin, and personifies the spirit of evil as Satan
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2. evil spirit: an evil spirit, particularly a subordinate of Satan
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3. offensive term: somebody who is regarded as evil, unpleasant, or violent
(
insult
)
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4. mischievous person or animal: a mischievous, troublesome, or high-spirited person or animal
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5. person or animal: a person or animal of the sort described
  You lucky devil!
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6. meteorology
Same as dust devil
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7. difficult or unpleasant case: an extremely difficult or unpleasant instance of something
(
informal
)
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8. intensifier: used as an intensifier in questions and exclamations
(
slang
)
Who the devil does he think he is?
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9. printing
(
archaic
)
Same as printer's devil
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transitive verb (past and past participle dev·iled, present participle dev·il·ing, 3rd person present singular dev·ils) |
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| Definition: |
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1. make food spicy: to cook or prepare a food with spicy seasonings
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2. pester somebody: to annoy, worry, or pester somebody, especially by making repeated requests for something
(
informal
)
He's been deviling me with requests for an interview.
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| [ Old English dēofol, via Latin diabolus< Greek diabolos "devil, Satan"] |
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between the devil and the deep blue sea faced with two equally undesirable choices
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