devil n EDD ~ sb 3 (10) Ir for sense 1; for combs. in sense 3: NID devil's claw 2, cp EDD 1 (32) devil's racket 'noise or commotion,' EDD devilskin '[from] devil's kin.'
   1 Phr the devil's cure to you: mild imprecation, expression of ill will or lack of sympathy.
   1931 BYRNES 121 The devil skewered to ye. C 71-118 When a person whom one does not like has a stroke of bad luck, one may say 'The devil's cure to him!' It may also be used when a person is warned not to do something because it may hurt or injure him, and then does it despite the warning and brings bad luck to himself. C 71-124 ~ if something happened to a person through carelessness or through impetuosity this was said.
   play with the devil: see PLAY.
   2 Comb devil-ma-click: adroit, versatile worker; jack of all trades.
   C 71-115 Any person who could turn his hand to a number of tasks with more or less equal success was referred to as a devil-ma-click.
   devil-ma-jig: device, implement or utensil capable of varied use; thingamajig (C 71-115).
   3 Combs. with the possessive devil's:
   devil's angel: small biting winged insect (Simulium spp),
   1907 WALLACE 29 And the black-flies—the 'devil's angels' some one called them—came in thousands to feast upon the newcomers and make life miserable for us all. 1947 TANNER i, 435 Not until the end of August are the mosquitoes and black-flies less numerous and no longer a nuisance in Labrador. The swamp is the home of these 'devil's angels.'
   devil's birthday: day on which pea soup is served; Saturday (C 75-145).
   C 71-110 It was quite common for people to say, when pea soup was being served, 'It's the Devil's birthday again.'
   devil's blanket, ~ feathers: snowfall which hinders habitual work (P 151-68).
   devil's cap: toadstool; mushroom thought to be poisonous; DEAD-MAN'S CAP, FAIRY ~ (P 148-68).
   devil's claw: grapnel to anchor vessel to ice.
   1925 Dial Notes v, 329 ~ An ice anchor. Its two tines are bent in the same direction at right angles to the shank. 1930 BARNES 222 Everything was there, chain hooks, devil's claws ... fish tackle, block and fall, all but the cat block.
   devil's fashion: the manner of giving something and then taking it back (C 69-12); cp FASHION.
   P 148-64 That's devil's fashion to give something and take it back.
   devil's laughter: Wilson's common snipe (Capella gallinago delicata) (P 133-69).
   devil's match: (a) British soldier, a type of lichen (Cladonia spp); (b) type of bulrush (Scirpus cespitosus) (1978 ROULEAU 86).
   C 69-19 We used to pick a tiny plant [called] the devil's matches. C 71-38 We used to eat a plant that looked like matches, a long stem—2 inches—with a small head on top of them. They had a sweetish taste and we used to call them devil's matches.
   devil's pelt: mischievous child or boy; PELT (P 269-64).
   devil's pipe: PITCHER PLANT (Sarracenia purpurea); INDIAN PIPE (C 71-4).
   devil's racket: hard bout of drinking; cp RACKET.
   1929 BURKE [4] "Mary Joe Slip on your Bloomers": For father always took a smile, / But only just in spurts, / Now he's on the Devil's racket / Since the rush came on the whorts.
   devilskin: mischievous, prankish boy or man; see devil's pelt above.
   T 367-67 Actually, 'twould be some devilskin, some funny man around the camp or town. P 260-68 Come here you devilskin and finish your breakfast!
   devil's spit: white, foam-like deposit secreted by the larvae of insects; SPIT n (C 71-124).
   devil's thumb-print: black marks on haddock's back—from a belief that the devil once grabbed the fish, which then got away (C 66-12).
   devil's umbrella: see devil's cap above (C 69-12).

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