play the devil with
IdiomsExample Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He hated it, but in self-defense he repressed his homesickness and began to play the devil with his wit.
From Time Magazine Archive
"Why," replied the recorder, "if we were not to give him a run now and then, his manager would play the devil with his crops and cattle."
From The Village Notary by E?tv?s, J?zsef
It was anti-social, stupid, uncivilised, all I most hated, to let emotion play the devil with one's reasoned principles and theories.
From Potterism A Tragi-Farcical Tract by Macaulay, Rose, Dame
Jealousy, it is true, will play the devil with a ghost, driving him to the bedside of secondary wedlock, there to scowl, unseen, and gibber inaudible remonstrances.
From Other Tales and Sketches (From: "The Doliver Romance and Other Pieces: Tales and Sketches") by Hawthorne, Nathaniel
They'll play the devil with all the pots and pans, if you aren't by.—Why,
From John Bull The Englishman's Fireside: A Comedy, in Five Acts by Colman, George
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.
