Any piece of equipment made for a particular purpose, especially a mechanical or electrical one. • A peripheral device; an item of hardware. • 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." • An improvised explosive device, home-made bomb • A technique that an author or speaker uses to evoke an emotional response in the audience; a rhetorical device. • A technique that an author or speaker uses to evoke an emotional response in the audience; a rhetorical device. (heraldry) A motto, emblem, or other mark used to distinguish the bearer from others. A device differs from a badge or cognizance primarily as it is a personal distinction, and not a badge borne by members of the same house successively. • A motto, emblem, or other mark used to distinguish the bearer from others. A device differs from a badge or cognizance primarily as it is a personal distinction, and not a badge borne by members of the same house successively. • Power of devising; invention; contrivance. • An image used in whole or in part as a trademark or service mark. • An image or logo denoting official or proprietary authority or provenience. • Any specific class of wordplay element in a cryptic crossword. • A spectacle or show. • Opinion; decision.