Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- transitive verb To form, plan, or arrange in the mind; design or contrive.
- transitive verb Law To transmit or give (real property) by will.
- transitive verb Archaic To suppose; imagine.
- noun The act of transmitting or giving real property by will.
- noun The property or lands so transmitted or given.
- noun A will or clause in a will transmitting or giving real property.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun (dē˙-vīs′ ). An obsolete spelling of
device . - noun In law: The act of bequeathing by will.
- noun A will or testament.
- noun A gift of real property by will: sometimes loosely used of personal property.
- noun The clause in a will by which such gift is made.
- To divide; distinguish.
- To say; tell; relate; describe.
- To imagine; conjecture; guess, or guess at.
- To think or study out; elaborate in the mind; invent; contrive; plan: as, to
devise a new machine, or a new method of doing anything; to devise a plan of defense; to devise schemes of plunder. - To plan or scheme for; purpose to obtain.
- To give, assign, make over, or transmit (real property) by will.
- Synonyms To concoct, concert.
- To consider; lay a plan or plans; form a scheme or schemes; contrive.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun The act of giving or disposing of real estate by will; -- sometimes improperly applied to a bequest of personal estate.
- noun A will or testament, conveying real estate; the clause of a will making a gift of real property.
- noun Property devised, or given by will.
- transitive verb To form in the mind by new combinations of ideas, new applications of principles, or new arrangement of parts; to formulate by thought; to contrive; to excogitate; to invent; to plan; to scheme.
- transitive verb To plan or scheme for; to purpose to obtain.
- transitive verb obsolete To say; to relate; to describe.
- transitive verb obsolete To imagine; to guess.
- transitive verb (Law) To give by will; -- used of real estate; formerly, also, of chattels.
- intransitive verb To form a scheme; to lay a plan; to contrive; to consider.
- noun obsolete Device. See
device .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb transitive To use one's
intellect toplan ordesign (something). - verb transitive To
leave (property ) in awill . - noun the act of leaving real property in a will
- noun such a will, or a
clause in such a will - noun the real property left in such a will
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun (law) a gift of real property by will
- verb arrange by systematic planning and united effort
- noun a will disposing of real property
- verb give by will, especially real property
- verb come up with (an idea, plan, explanation, theory, or principle) after a mental effort
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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This devise is a little far fetched but allows the narrator to continue his long life of crime and McCabe to produce an unforgettable black work.
Irish Psycho 2007
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A gradation: "devise" is the conception of the evil purpose; "work" (Ps 58: 2), or "fabricate," the maturing of the scheme;
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Some valid discoveries have been made, so it is probably better grounded than String Theory, which is still stuck in "devise some explanation to explain the data" mode.
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I've often wondered to what and how often this government approved devise is compared.
Carry-Over Thread 2007
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Where, midst the flowers, the finch's lay Shall welcome you with music gay; While you shall bid our antique tongue Some word devise, or air supply, Like those that charm'd your youth so long, And lent a spell to memory.
Jasmin: Barber, Poet, Philanthropist Smiles, Samuel, 1812-1904 1891
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With a wide range of jamming capabilities and easily wearable the devise is the size of a radio, the Storm-H extends protection to each individual soldier on tactical operations.
FOXNews.com Allison Barrie 2011
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Google calls the devise "reminiscent of an ice cream cart."
MPNnow Home RSS 2009
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He has even helped his wife, who works at a Georgetown law firm, devise a kayak commuter route on heavy traffic days.
Below The Beltway 2009
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And as to taking by devise, that is a taking by purchase, as was adjudged by the Lords in the case of Bofper and (1)
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He replied, “I know not; but thou art better able to judge, being acquainted with the ways of thy man, more by token that thou art one of the sharpest-witted of women and past mistress of devices such as devise that whereof fail the wise.”
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