DEVILINGS

Noun

devilings

plural of deviling

Source: Wiktionary


DEVILING

Dev"il*ing, n.

Definition: A young devil. [Obs.] Beau. & Fl.

DEVIL

Dev"il, n. Etym: [AS. deĆ³fol, deĆ³ful; akin to G. , Goth. diabaĆŗlus; all fr. L. diabolus the devil, Gr. 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." 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)

Definition: 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.)

Definition: A machine for tearing or cutting rags, cotton, etc. Blue devils. See under Blue.

– Cartesian devil. See under Cartesian.

– Devil bird (Zoƶl.), one of two or more South African drongo shrikes (Edolius retifer, and E. remifer), 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. (Zoƶl.) (a) The black rove beetle (Ocypus olens). [Eng.] (b) A large, predacious, hemipterous insect (Prionotus cristatus); the wheel bug. [U.S.] -- Devil's darning-needle. (Zoƶl.) See under Darn, v. t.

– Devil's fingers, Devil's hand (Zoƶl.), the common British starfish (Asterias rubens); -- also applied to a sponge with stout branches. [Prov. Eng., Irish & Scot.] -- Devil's riding-horse (Zoƶl.), 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." Macaulay.

– Tasmanian devil (Zoƶl.), a very savage carnivorous marsupial of Tasmania (Dasyurus, or Diabolus, ursinus).

– To play devil with, to molest extremely; to ruin. [Low]

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. deviled egg a hard-boiled egg, sliced into halves and with the yolk removed and replaced with a paste, usually made from the yolk and mayonnaise, seasoned with salt and/or spices such as paprika.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



RESET




Word of the Day

29 April 2024

SUBDUCTION

(noun) a geological process in which one edge of a crustal plate is forced sideways and downward into the mantle below another plate


coffee icon

Coffee Trivia

There are more than 50 countries that export coffee. They are near the equator, where the climate is conducive to producing coffee beans.

coffee icon