Definitions from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

[ English

[ Pronunciation

•  Audio (US)^{help, file}

• Rhymes: -aɪs

[ Noun

device (plural devices)

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

   There are a number of household devices in a kitchen such as a dishwasher, a garbage disposal, or an electric can opener.

2. A project or scheme, often designed to deceive; a stratagem; an artifice.

   His device is against Babylon, to destroy it. --Jer. li. 11.

   Their recent device of demanding benevolences. --Hallam.

   He disappointeth the devices of the crafty. --Job v. 12.

3. (rhetoric) A technique that an author or speaker uses to evoke an emotional response in the audience; a rhetorical device.
4. (heraldry) A motto, emblem, or other mark used to distinguish the bearer from others. A device differs from a badge or cognizance primarily because as it is a personal distinction, and not a badge borne by members of the same house successively.
5. (law) An image used in whole or part as a trademark or service mark.
6. (obsolete) A spectacle or show.
7. (obsolete) Opinion; decision.
8. (obsolete) Power of devising; invention; contrivance.

   I must have instruments of my own device. --Landor.

[ Synonyms

[ Derived terms

[ Translations