Definition of "device" in English

noun

Any piece of equipment made for a particular purpose, especially a mechanical or electrical one.
- 1949. Geneva Convention on Road Traffic Chapter VI. Provisions Applicable to Cycles in International Traffic Every cycle shall be equipped with: … (b) an audible warning device consisting of a bell …
(computer hardware) 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."
(Ireland) An improvised explosive device, home-made bomb
(rhetoric) A technique that an author or speaker uses to evoke an emotional response in the audience; a rhetorical device.
- 1736. O'Callaghan, Edmund Bailey. The Documentary History of the State of New York Chapter I, Article III: Enumeration of the Indian Tribes. The devices of these savages are the serpent, the Deer, and the Small Acorn.
A technique that an author or speaker uses to evoke an emotional response in the audience; a rhetorical device. (heraldry) 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.
(archaic) Power of devising; invention; contrivance.
(law) An image used in whole or in part as a trademark or service mark.
(printing) An image or logo denoting official or proprietary authority or provenience.
- Prior to the issuance of the first stamps, letters accepted by postmasters for dispatch were marked "Paid" by means of pen and ink or hand stamps of various designs. … To facilitate the handling of mail matter, some postmasters provided special stamps or devices for use on letters as evidence of the prepayment of postage.
(crosswording) Any specific class of wordplay element in a cryptic crossword.
(obsolete) A spectacle or show.
(obsolete) Opinion; decision.