device
/dɪˈvaɪs/ noun B1- Any piece of equipment made for a particular purpose, especially a mechanical or electrical one. · Near-synonyms: equipment, tool, machine
- A peripheral device; an item of hardware.
- 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."
- A technique that an author or speaker uses to evoke an emotional response in the audience; a rhetorical device.
- A motto, emblem, or other mark used to distinguish the bearer from others. A device differs from a badge or cognizance primarily as it is a personal distinction, and not a badge borne by members of the same house successively.
- An image used in whole or in part as a trademark or service mark.
- An image or logo denoting official or proprietary authority or provenience.
- Any specific class of wordplay element in a cryptic crossword.
Plural devices
From the library
At the time the Countess of Morcerf returned to the rooms, after giving her orders, many guests were arriving, more attracted by the charming hospitality of the countess than by the distinguished position of the count; for, owing to the good taste of Mercédès, one was sure of finding some devices at her entertainment worthy of describing, or even copying in case of need.
There was no difficulty in the way, for the old people were busy in their own fashion and left me to my own devices.
“When I recovered I managed, by a device which had perhaps some little merit of ingenuity, to get old Cunningham to write the word ‘twelve,’ so that I might compare it with the ‘twelve’ upon the paper.”
I am afraid that I must leave you to your own devices, as the appearance of two inquiring strangers upon a sleepy countryside might excite more gossip than I care for.
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