Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Reckless mischief.
- noun Extreme cruelty; wickedness.
- noun Evil magic; witchcraft.
- noun An act of mischief, cruelty, or witchcraft.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun Diabolical action; malicious mischief; devilry.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun Diabolical conduct; malignant mischief; devilry.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun
devilry .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun wicked and cruel behavior
- noun reckless or malicious behavior that causes discomfort or annoyance in others
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Further south, in the area north of the Aisne river, west of Laon, probably the worst example of this German deviltry is to be found.
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If this kind of deviltry works, we can expect local Democrat district attorneys to routinely indict any Republican who is successfully turning out the electorate for the Republican Party.
Think Progress » VIDEO: Tom DeLay Exercises His Right To Incriminate Himself 2005
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He's in here, trying to make up his mind what kind of deviltry to get into next.
The Fuzzy Papers Piper, H. Beam 1962
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I was a boy at West Point I was court-martialed for tolerating some youthful "deviltry" of my classmates, in which I took no part myself, and was sentenced to be dismissed.
Forty-Six Years in the Army John M. Schofield
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But one of the candidates, perhaps by way of excuse for his failure, wrote to his parents some account of the "deviltry" in which my classmates had indulged that day.
Forty-Six Years in the Army John M. Schofield
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It was dark enough for any kind of deviltry in that four-hundred foot gash in the earth; the sinking moon lightened only a strip along the east wall, near the top; lower down, smoke mingling with the natural gloom cast an impenetrable veil from bank to bank; not a breath of air stirred the tomblike stillness.
Raw Gold A Novel Bertrand W. Sinclair 1926
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"I would really like to know what especial kind of deviltry you young fry are up to this time," said Uncle
The Story Girl Lucy Maud 1911
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"I would really like to know what especial kind of deviltry you young fry are up to this time," said Uncle Roger one evening, as he passed through the orchard with his gun on his shoulder, bound for the swamp.
The Story Girl 1908
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We can trust this to be the plain truth in regard to the Liverpool consulate, and if twenty-five thousand a year was ever obtained from it, there must have been some kind of deviltry in the business.
The Life and Genius of Nathaniel Hawthorne Stearns, Frank P 1906
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No tellin 'how long they may take or what kind of deviltry that camp booze may work 'em up to.
Rimrock Trail 1906
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