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device

noun

Simple meaning

An instrumentality invented for a particular purpose.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

dihvys

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

dɪˈvaɪs

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. An instrumentality invented for a particular purpose

    “The device is small enough to wear on your wrist.”

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

  3. computer hardware

    A peripheral device; an item of hardware.

  4. 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."

  5. rhetoric

    A technique that an author or speaker uses to evoke an emotional response in the audience; a rhetorical device.

  6. ireland

    An improvised explosive device, home-made bomb

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
A1 · Beginner (estimated)
Frequency
Very Common
Typical Use
General English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: An instrumentality invented for a particular purpose

Used this way, device is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Heard in a sentence
“The device is small enough to wear on your wrist.”
Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use device

  • “The device is small enough to wear on your wrist.”noun

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

storage deviceoutput devicedevice driverinput devicemeasuring devicemechanical devicecontrol devicenew device

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • devicesnounPlural form

    An inclination or desire.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • device characteristicnounCompound term

    Any measurable property of a device measured under closely specified conditions.

  • device drivernounCompound term

    A program that determines how a computer will communicate with a peripheral device.

  • breathing devicenounCompound term

    A device that facilitates breathing in cases of respiratory failure.

  • cleaning devicenounCompound term

    Any of a large class of implements used for cleaning.

  • computing devicenounCompound term

    A machine for performing calculations automatically.

  • contraceptive devicenounCompound term

    An agent or device intended to prevent conception.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.