device

noun12

1. •
   a machine or other piece of equipment made to do one special job

   • Every cycle shall be equipped with: … (b) an audible warning device consisting of a bell … — 1949
2. •
   A peripheral device; an item of hardware.
3. •
   An improvised explosive device, home-made bomb

   • Inflammable material is planted in my head / It's a suspect device that's left 2000 dead — 1979
4. •
   Any specific class of wordplay element in a cryptic crossword.

   • These eight devices, and combinations thereof, account for nearly every kind of wordplay you will encounter in cryptic crosswords. — 2001
5. •
   (rhetoric) A technique that an author or speaker uses to evoke an emotional response in the audience; a rhetorical device.

   • The devices of these savages are the serpent, the Deer, and the Small Acorn. — 1736
6. •
   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.
7. •
   An image used in whole or in part as a trademark or service mark.
8. •
   An image or logo denoting official or proprietary authority or provenience.
9. •
   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."

   • His device is against Babylon, to destroy it. — 1611
10. •
    (no longer used) Power of devising; invention; contrivance.

    • Moreover I must have instruments of mine own device, weighty, and exceeding costly — 1824
11. •
    (no longer used) A spectacle or show.

    • It will be out of fashion to weare swords, / Masques, and devices welcome, I salute you […] — 1634
12. •
    (no longer used) Opinion; decision.