device

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   Any piece of equipment made for a particular purpose, especially a mechanical or…

   Any piece of equipment made for a particular purpose, especially a mechanical or electrical one.

   • Near-synonyms: equipment, tool, machine
   • 1949. Geneva Convention on Road Traffic Chapter VI. Provisions Applicable to Cycles in International Traffic Every cycle shall be equipped with: … (b) an audible warning device consisting of a bell …
   • An artificial kidney these days still means a refrigerator-sized dialysis machine. Such devices mimic the way real kidneys cleanse blood and eject impurities and surplus water as urine.
2. 2

   A peripheral device

   A peripheral device; an item of hardware.

3. 3

   A project or scheme, often designed to deceive

   A project or scheme, often designed to deceive; a stratagem; an artifice. 1602, Shakespeare, The Merry Wives of Windsor. "This is our device,/ That Falstaff at that oak shall meet with us."

   • His device is against Babylon, to destroy it.
   • He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise.
   • Their recent device of demanding benevolences.
4. ›+ 8 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      An improvised explosive device, home-made bomb

      • Inflammable material is planted in my head / It's a suspect device that's left 2000 dead
      • THE ARMY BOMB Disposal Team rendered safe a viable device in Cavan this afternoon.
      • The army bomb squad carried out two controlled explosions on the device. It was later found that the suspect device was a hoax and not a viable explosive.
   2. 5

      A technique that an author or speaker uses to evoke an emotional response in the audience

      A technique that an author or speaker uses to evoke an emotional response in the audience; a rhetorical device.

      • 1736. O'Callaghan, Edmund Bailey. The Documentary History of the State of New York Chapter I, Article III: Enumeration of the Indian Tribes. The devices of these savages are the serpent, the Deer, and the Small Acorn.
   3. 6

      Power of devising

      Power of devising; invention; contrivance.

      • Moreover I must have instruments of mine own device, weighty, and exceeding costly
      • And she said, "We are all prisoners here, Of our own device"
      • I want to (I must) tell a story of a revelation in my life. His name is Vernon. We have known each other for 17 years, yet we are presently separated through no device of our own making.
   4. 7

      An image used in whole or in part as a trademark or service mark.

   5. 8

      An image or logo denoting official or proprietary authority or provenience.

   6. 9

      Any specific class of wordplay element in a cryptic crossword.

      • These eight devices, and combinations thereof, account for nearly every kind of wordplay you will encounter in cryptic crosswords.
      • Discovering these variants is much of the fun. All the devices can be combined and twisted to produce surface readings in each clue which point you in the wrong direction.
      • As with all varieties of cryptic clues, the container device can be used in conjunction with other devices, especially in more complex cryptic crosswords.
   7. 10

      A spectacle or show.

      • It will be out of faſhion to weare ſwords, / Maſques, and devices welcome, I ſalute you […]
   8. 11

      Opinion

      Opinion; decision.

The neighborhood

• synonymdevice
• antonymnondevice
• neighbortool
• neighborinstrument
• neighborartifact
• neighboraerial device
• neighborambient device
• neighborbelay device
• neighborbiodevice
• neighborblock device
• neighborBrannock device
• neighborcharge-coupled device
• neighborcloaking device
• neighborcohesive device