devious

548

need to play devil’s advocate in order to get a discussion going.

de vi ous /'diivias/ adj. 1 behaving in a dishonest or indirect way, or tricking people, in order to get sth HIS3 DECEITFUL, UNDER­HAND : a devious politician 7 M ^ (ft Sfc % o He got rich by devious means. 2 ~ route/

path a route or path that is not straight but has many changes in direction; not direct if HJlft (     ) ; ft ft

£ft ( 113# ) : a devious route from the airport /hft^lft ftftiS5& de-vi-ous-ly adv. de vi ous ness noun [U] de-vise /di'vaiz/ verb [VN] to invent sth new or a new way of doing sth ; i⁢ M Ifi ETlTl think up : A new system has been devised to control traffic in the city.

de-voice /,di:‘vois/ verb [VN] {phonetics iftftf) to make a speech sound, usually a consonant, voiceless

) m.

de-void /dTvoid/ adj. ~ of sth completely lacking in sth Tcfkfk'H; SfeS.: The letter was devoid of warmth and feeling.          X/Bi'ffo

de vo lu tion /.dirva'luijn; NAmE ,dev-/ noun [U] the act of giving power from a central authority or government to an authority or a government in a local region ( 4*

de-volve /di'vnlv; NAmE -'va:lv/ verb I7T:171 de'volve on/upon sb/sth (formal) 1 if property, money, etc. devolves on/upon you, you receive it after sb else dies (Mft, &®%&r )       #3c2ifaduty,

responsibility, etc. devolves on/upon you, it is given to you by sb at a higher level of authority (     ft ft

# ) £&•••§:#, 51ft;   de'volve sth to/on/upon

sb to give a duty, responsibility, power, etc. to sb who has less authority than you ( ftIRft, ftft N   )

, 51 ft : The central government devolved most tax-raising powers to the regional authorities. ftA

de-volved /di'vDlvd; NAmE -'vailvd/ adj. if power or authority is devolved, it has been passed to sb who has less power B ffc Ift ; . T Jfc fft ; 51 ft (ft : devolved responsibility          Wift 0 a system of devolved

government

de-VOte o-w /di'vaut; NAmE di'vout/ verb L:i;kTi de vote yourself to sb/sth to give most of your time, energy, attention, etc. to sb/sth ; gtft; ^r j|>: She devoted herself to her career.       § B

de'vote sth to sth to give an amount of time, attention, etc. to sth ft • • • fr] ft -. I could only devote two hours a day to the work.

xMt.

de-VOted Ow /di'vautid; NAmE -'vout-/ adj.

~ (to sb/sth) having great love for sb/sth and being loyal to them ^g(ft; &Mlft;  They are

devoted to their children.    0 0 a

devoted son/friend/fan #7;         £$69###

o note at love ► de-voted-ly adv. devotee /.deva'ti:/ noun ~ (of sb/sth) 1 a person who admires and is very enthusiastic about sb/sth (

(ft ) #'^#, a devotee of science fiction f4£frj\

i&Eftft&lM#?# 2a very religious person who belongs to a particular group M ift A Ifc ft Vk : devotees of Krishna ( ) HAlftltMft^

de-vo-tion /di'vaufn; NAmE-‘vou-/ noun ~ (to sb/sth) 1 [u, sing.] great love, care and support for sb/sth ^ ft; A ^ ; A M : His devotion to his wife and family is touching.   2 [U, sing.]

the action of spending a lot of time or energy on sth ^ SR; &M; ETZ71 dedication her devo­tion to duty     M M 0 Her devotion to the job

left her with very little free time.

XL 7 W Bpx o 3 devotions [pi.] prayers and other religious practices

de vo tion al /di'vaufanl; NAmE -'vou-/ adj. (of music, etc.       connected with or used in religious services

de-vour /di'vaua(r)/ verb [VN] 1 to eat all of sth quickly, especially because you are very hungry ( X ft 0 tfl, 1$ ffl )         gobble up 2 to read or look

at sth with great interest and enthusiasm ^ ^ ft 5|c Hfe ft; #P tA f!X $1 ife          : She devoured everything she could

lay her hands on: books, magazines and newspapers, ft

mummw

ft o 3 (formal) to destroy sb/sth ft &; ft Ri; A FS771 engulf: Flames devoured the house. A Aft ^7 rrrm be devoured by sth to be filled with a strong emotion that seems to control you ft ft ( 3S ^(fttfil ) : She was devoured by envy and hatred. M

de vout /di'vaut/ adj. (of a person A) believing strongly in a particular religion and obeying its laws and practices ^ ft (ft ; ft M (ft : a devout Christian/ Muslim ft (ft 31 # $! /   # ► de-vout-ly adv. :

a devoutly Catholic region ^IftAftlfclfti&K <> She devoutly (= very strongly) hoped he was telling the truth. MM«#Mf«iftJi£1ic,

dew /dju:; NAmE du:/ noun [U] the very small drops of water that form on the ground, etc. during the night M; 3?tK : The grass was wet with early morning dew. /tlilftgfTjcftiflfillWo dew-berry /'dju:bari; NAmE 'duiberi; NAmE also 'dju:-/ noun (pi. -ies) a small soft black or blue-black fruit like a blackberry, or the bush that it grows on If ( %_ * ) ; If# ( ** )

dew-drop /'djurdrap; NAmE 'du:dra:p/ noun a small drop of dew or other liquid lift; 7jCJft Dewey decimal classification /,dju:i desiml klaesifikeij'n; NAmE also ,du:i/ (also 'Dewey system) noun [sing.] an international system for arranging books in a library )

'dew point noun [sing.] (technical Ain) the temperature at which air can hold no more water. Below this temperature the water comes out of the air in the form of drops.    A H, ftftiH:

dewy /'dju:i; NAmE 'du:i/ adj. wet with dew @f 7jc ft M

m ww.m

,dewy-' eyed adj. (disapproving) showing emotion about sth, perhaps with a few tears in the eyes zftjjilf ; jji

SENTIMENTAL

dex-ter-ity /dek'sterati/ noun [U] skill in using your hands or your mind ( # ) RVj,    ) WtW,

M tS : You need manual dexterity to be good at video games, gc  0 mental/verbal

dexterity i&iZ&Vj

dex-ter-ous (also dex-trous) /'dekstras/ adj. (formal) skilful with your hands; skilfully done M. *5 W ^ dex-ter-ous-ly (also dex-trous-ly) adv. dex-trose /'dekstrauz; -aus; NAmE -ouz; -ous/ noun [U] (chemistry ft) a form of glucose (= a type of natural

sugar) mmm, ttmi-wxmm)

DfES / ,di: ef i: 'es/ abbr. (in Britain) Department for Education and Skills (

dhal (also dal) /da:l/ noun [U] a S Asian dish made from lentils or other pulses (= seeds from certain plants)

( ## )

dhania /'dainia/ noun [u] (EAfrE, IndE, SAfrE) the leaves or seeds of the coriander plant, used to flavour food #

#uf,  )

dhan-sak /'dAnsaik; 'daensaek/ noun an Indian meat or vegetable dish cooked with lentils and coriander

££##*$1*],  ( m*# )'

dharma /’daima; NAmE 'da:r-/ noun [U] (in Indian reli­gion Ep fk A ffc) truth or law that affects the whole universe )

dharna /'d3:na; -na:; NAmE 'd3:rn-/ noun (IndE) 1 an act of lying flat on the floor with your face down as an act of worship in a temple        ftAitfe^ft )

2 a form of protest in which a group of people refuse to leave a factory, public place, etc. IIAfrCiZ. dhoti /'dauti; NAmE 'douti/ noun a long piece of cloth worn by Hindu men. It is sometimes tied round the waist, with the lower part passed between the legs and