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| NOUN |
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| /ˈdevl/ |
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| 1 | the Devil the most powerful evil spirit in many religions such as Christianity and Islam 魔王；撒旦 |
| | 1a | C an evil spirit 魔鬼 | | They believed she had been possessed by devils. 他们认为她被魔鬼附身。 | |
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| 2 | C informal someone who does not behave very well , especially a child . You usually use this word when you are not really angry with the person 淘气鬼，冒失鬼（尤指儿童，通常并非真含怒意） |
| I bet you were a little devil when you were younger. 我敢说你年轻一点的时候是个小淘气鬼。 |
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| 3 | C informal a person . Used when you are describing someone or saying how you feel about them , especially if you like them 人，家伙（用于表达对某人的感受时，尤指对其有好感时） |
| Poor old devil, he doesn’ t get many visitors. 可怜的老家伙，没有多少人去看望他。 |
| PHRASES |
| - | be a devil BRITISH spoken
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| used for encouraging someone to do something when they are not sure if they should do it , especially when it is not very bad or serious |
| 勇敢点；别顾虑 |
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| Go on, be a devil. Come out tonight. 来呀，别顾虑。今晚出去吧。 |
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| - | better the devil you know (than the devil you don’ t)
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| used for saying that it is safer to deal with a bad but familiar person or thing than to risk dealing with someone or something that you do not know and that could be worse |
| 宁可跟认识的魔鬼打交道（也比跟不认识的魔鬼打交道好）；熟悉的总比不熟悉的好处理 |
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| - | between the devil and the deepbluesea
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| in a difficult situation where you have to choose between two equally bad things |
| 进退两难；左右为难 |
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| - | the devilmakes/findswork for idlehands
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| used for saying that people who are bored or do not have enough work will start doing things that they should not do |
| 游手好闲生是非 |
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| - | a devil of a
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| used for emphasizing how difficult or unpleasant something is |
| 非常困难的；非常糟糕的 |
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| We had a devil of a job persuading her not to leave. 我们费了很大劲劝说她留下。 |
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| - | (the) devil take the hindmost
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| used for talking about a situation where people do only what is best for themselves and do not care what happens to other people |
| 只顾自己不顾别人；各顾各的 |
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| - | have the luck of the devil
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| to be very lucky |
| 非常幸运 |
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| - | like the devil old-fashioned
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| used for emphasizing that someone does something very fast or with a lot of energy |
| 快速地；猛力地；拼命地 |
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| - | talk/speak of the devil spoken
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| used when someone you have just been talking about arrives unexpectedly |
| 说曹操，曹操到 |
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| - | the very devil old-fashioned
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| very difficult or unpleasant to do |
| 棘手的；令人讨厌的 |
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| - | what/who/how the devil spoken
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| used for asking in an angry way what is happening or who has done something |
| 究竟什么/谁/如何 |
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| What the devil is going on here? 这里究竟发生了什么事？ |
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