Device Definition
dĭ-vīs
devices
noun
devices
A contrivance, esp. a mechanical one, for some specific purpose.
Webster's New World
Something used to gain an artistic effect.
Rhetorical devices.
Webster's New World
A thing devised; plan; scheme, esp. a sly or underhanded scheme; trick.
Webster's New World
An ornamental figure or design.
Webster's New World
A design, often with a motto, on a coat of arms; heraldic emblem.
Webster's New World
Synonyms:
- isotron
- galvanoscope
- figurativeness
- electroscope
- electrophorus
- electroencephalograph
- electrocardiograph
- transmit-receiver
- superheterodyne
- calutron
- self-starter
- motor-generator
- autostarter
- electrograph
- oscillograph
idiom
leave to (one's) own devices
- To allow (someone) to do as he or she pleases:
left the child to her own devices for an hour.
- To force (someone) to cope or manage without assistance:
Most people would die in the desert if left to their own devices.
American Heritage
leave someone to his own devices
- to allow someone to act independently or as he (or she) wishes
Webster's New World
Other Word Forms of Device
Noun
Singular:
device
Plural:
devicesIdioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Device
- leave to (one's) own devices
- leave someone to his own devices
Origin of Device
-
Middle English from Old French devis division, wish and Old French devise design both from Latin dīvīsus, dīvīsa past participle of dīvidere to divide, separate divide
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
-
Old French devis, from Latin divisus, past participle of dividere (“to divide”), thus originally, when goods were being divided among people, a mark put on each item to say who was getting what.
From Wiktionary
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