devise
Americanverb (used with object)
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to contrive, plan, or elaborate; invent from existing principles or ideas.
to devise a method.
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Theater. to develop (a play) collaboratively with the performers.
Based on the lives of women in engineering, the students devised the play themselves.
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Law. to assign or transmit (property) by will.
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Archaic. to imagine; suppose.
verb (used without object)
noun
verb
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to work out, contrive, or plan (something) in one's mind
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(tr) law to dispose of (property, esp real property) by will
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obsolete (tr) to imagine or guess
noun
Synonym Usage
See prepare.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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devisesimple
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devisessimple
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have devisedperfect
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has devisedperfect
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am devisingprogressive
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are devisingprogressive
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is devisingprogressive
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have been devisingperfect progressive
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has been devisingperfect progressive
Past
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devisedsimple
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had devisedperfect
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was devisingprogressive
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were devisingprogressive
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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
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Walk Two Moons
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The Things They Carried
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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:
Eventually he was going to devise a whole new sport of wheelchair tennis, introduce it to the world and see it played at Grand Slams and Paralympics.
From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026
LAUSD’s action to devise new limits in April spurred interest in the issue across the nation, said Jodi Carreon, who co-runs the California chapter of the Distraction-Free Schools Policy Project, a leader in the movement.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 23, 2026
She also meets a scientist working to devise a simple diagnostic test that could help many women.
From BBC ● May 27, 2026
Instead, the governor’s office said city officials would need to devise a new system to value these second homes in phase two.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 15, 2026
It turns out to be very difficult to devise a theory to describe the universe all in one go.
From "A Brief History of Time: And Other Essays" by Stephen Hawking
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
"It's pretty weak," said Sat Duhra, a portfolio manager at Janus Henderson who devises a macro score for countries by tracking seven factors including PMI surveys, real exchange rates, current accounts, growth estimates and liquidity.
From Reuters ● Aug. 28, 2023
Down on the ground, he devises spectacles for the duke.
From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day
Transforming an office tower into residences is a complex undertaking, one that often requires feats of engineering and newly devised architectural hacks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026
The researchers devised a market-beating strategy for exploiting this discovery, buying those stocks that their LLM suggested would rise as the market fully discounted the pure news, and shorting stocks the model projected would fall.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 4, 2026
Arasheben devised a mechanism allowing the face to switch colors.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 12, 2026
By including a broader range of places and using the insights of local councils, the charities believe they have devised a more accurate picture of female rough sleeping.
From BBC ● Jun. 10, 2026
In 1602 Tycho Brahe published his Instruments for the Restoration of Astronomy, which provided elaborate illustrations of the new instruments he had devised for conducting astronomical observations.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
Before the war, Khamenei reportedly tasked Larijani with devising a plan to ensure that the Islamic Republic would survive a major attack by Israel and the US, including the assassination of its leadership.
From BBC ● Mar. 17, 2026
As a result, the company must set itself apart by devising new routes of drug delivery or dosing schedules that are more manageable for patients.
From Barron's ● Feb. 3, 2026
By devising a tax-efficient and multifaceted distribution strategy.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 27, 2026
“It really underscores the urgency with which our elected officials and policymakers should be devising ways of mitigating the economic harm that is occurring as a result of immigration enforcement actions.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 1, 2026
A few days later, Capron returned to Leah’s after devising what he considered a foolproof spirit test.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
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.
