devise
Americanverb (used with object)
-
devises,
present (3rd person singular)
-
devised,
past participle, past
-
devising
present participle
-
to contrive, plan, or elaborate; invent from existing principles or ideas.
to devise a method.
-
Theater. to develop (a play) collaboratively with the performers.
Based on the lives of women in engineering, the students devised the play themselves.
-
Law. to assign or transmit (property) by will.
-
Archaic. to imagine; suppose.
verb (used without object)
-
devises,
present (3rd person singular)
-
devised,
past participle, past
-
devising
present participle
noun
verb
-
to work out, contrive, or plan (something) in one's mind
-
(tr) law to dispose of (property, esp real property) by will
-
obsolete (tr) to imagine or guess
noun
Synonym Usage
See prepare.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
devisesimple
-
devisessimple
-
have devisedperfect
-
has devisedperfect
-
am devisingprogressive
-
are devisingprogressive
-
is devisingprogressive
-
have been devisingperfect progressive
-
has been devisingperfect progressive
Past
-
devisedsimple
-
had devisedperfect
-
was devisingprogressive
-
were devisingprogressive
-
had been devisingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of devise
First recorded in 1150–1200; (verb) Middle English devisen “to inspect, design, compose,” from Old French deviser, from unattested Vulgar Latin dēvīsāre, for unattested dīvīsāre, frequentative of Latin dīvidere “to divide” ( see divide); (noun) see device
Explanation
To devise is to figure out a plan. Men twirling long mustaches might devise a plan to tie someone to the railroad tracks. To devise a plan is more than just making one; there's a lot of figuring out to do, such as: "Phoebe devised a bus route that picked up kids in alphabetical order." There's a method to the madness of devising. The chemistry class devised a plan to make the fire alarm go off. Devise can be positive, too, meaning to find a creative solution: "The design team devised a plan to make the trailer home look like a medieval castle."
Vocabulary lists containing devise
Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Walk Two Moons
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
The Things They Carried
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
We queried experts across sports medicine, personal training and physical therapy to devise easy routines comprising simple exercises you can do at home to test and train your balance.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026
"Diet holds great promise for controlling the microbiome and its outputs. But to devise effective therapeutic interventions, we need to understand what aspects of the diet control which microbial outputs."
From Science Daily ● Aug. 15, 2026
February 28: An FAA audit gives Boeing 90 days to devise a plan to significantly upgrade its quality control processes.
From Barron's ● Aug. 3, 2026
It would devise a plan "with its associations and in close co-operation with other confederations" to make sure this "cannot occur again"
From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026
It was a plot our father helped devise but did not carry through, since by then we had fled to the States.
From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez
Moreton devises trades by feeding reams of weather data and historical prices into machine-learning models.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
Rose Njeri was detained on Friday after police raided her home in the capital, Nairobi, and seized electronic devises, activists said.
From BBC ● Jun. 2, 2025
When other teachers begin to complain about having valuable items stolen in their lounge, she devises a trap.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 18, 2023
He said he has no problem sharing the carries with the Jets in whatever role coordinator Nathaniel Hackett devises for him in his offense.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 29, 2023
Down on the ground, he devises spectacles for the duke.
From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day
"By contrast, a change of leadership at EssilorLuxottica would, in our view, be negative, as the group's strategy has been devised and implemented consistently by Milleri over the past few years," Equita said.
From Barron's ● Aug. 25, 2026
The U.S. is likely to lower tariffs on Canadian steel, aluminum and autos as part of a trade framework being devised by the nations, according to people with knowledge of the negotiations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
When the Secret Service devised a plan to transport Bill Clinton from India to Pakistan in 2000, it was similar to the plan that Trump employed on July 8.
From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2026
"In an attempt to solve the rehoming crisis, the racing industry had devised a program of sending retired greyhounds to the US and Canada," Field said.
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026
When the last, who was Sigmund, was brought out and chained, Signy had devised a way to save him.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
These credentials are meant to help workers prove they have skills like devising effective prompts or using AI for business strategy.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 31, 2026
Twenty years ago, founders proudly eschewed fashion and decorum, too busy writing code and devising a new world order to bother with pleasantries, like basic manners and French cuffs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 18, 2026
Barton builds up Mozart’s role, with emphasis on his home life, which he fills with discord and challenges of his own devising.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 8, 2026
The Lib Dems said the new Department for Growth would have responsibility for setting taxes, devising growth strategy, deciding on strategic national infrastructure projects and setting rules on public spending.
From BBC ● Feb. 11, 2026
But what had I gained in devising my own death and escaping from Elsinore?
From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
