Noun

(fancies)

The imagination.

* Milton

In the soul / Are many lesser faculties, that serve / Reason as chief. Among these fancy next / Her office holds.

An image or representation of anything formed in the mind; conception; thought; idea.

* Shakespeare

How now, my lord! why do you keep alone, / Of sorriest fancies your companions making?

An opinion or notion formed without much reflection; an impression.

* John Locke

I have always had a fancy that learning might be made a play and recreation to children.

A whim.

I had a fancy to learn to play the flute.

Love or amorous attachment.

He took a fancy to her.

The object of inclination or liking.

* Shakespeare

to fit your fancies to your father's will

Any sport or hobby pursued by a group.

Trainspotting is the fancy of a special lot.

the cat fancy

The enthusiasts of such a pursuit.

He fell out of favor with the boxing fancy after the incident.

* De Quincey

a great book sale in London, which had congregated all the fancy

A diamond with a distinctive colour.

That which pleases or entertains the taste or caprice without much use or value.

* Mortimer

London pride is a pretty fancy for borders.

(obsolete) A sort of love song or light impromptu ballad.

(Shakespeare)

In the game of jacks, a style of play involving additional actions (contrasted with plainsies).

* 1970 , Marta Weigle, Follow my fancy: the book of jacks and jack games (page 22)

When you have mastered plainsies, the regular jack game, and have learned all the rules, you will be ready to use this part of the book. A fancy is a variation of plainsies which usually requires more skill than plainsies does.

* 2002 , Elizabeth Dana Jaffe, ?Sherry L. Field, ?Linda D. Labbo, Jacks (page 26)

When you get good at jacks, try adding a fancy . A fancy is an extra round at the end of a game. It makes the game a little harder. Jack Be Nimble, Around the World, or Black Widow are some fancies.

Noun

(en noun)

Any piece of equipment made for a particular purpose, especially a mechanical or electrical one.

* 1949 . Geneva Convention on Road Traffic

Every cycle shall be equipped with: [...] (b) an audible warning device consisting of a bell [...]

* {{quote-magazine, title=A better waterworks, date=2013-06-01, volume=407, issue=8838

, page=5 (Technology Quarterly), magazine=(The Economist) citation , passage=An artificial kidney these days still means a refrigerator-sized dialysis machine. Such devices mimic the way real kidneys cleanse blood and eject impurities and surplus water as urine.}}

A project or scheme, often designed to deceive; a stratagem; an artifice.

*

His device is against Babylon, to destroy it.

*

He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise.

* 1827 Hallam, Henry, , Harper

Their recent device of demanding benevolences.

* {{quote-magazine, date=2012-03, author=

, title=Pixels or Perish, volume=100, issue=2, page=106 , magazine= citation , passage=Drawings and pictures are more than mere ornaments in scientific discourse. Blackboard sketches, geological maps, diagrams of molecular structure, astronomical photographs, MRI images, the many varieties of statistical charts and graphs: These pictorial devices are indispensable tools for presenting evidence, for explaining a theory, for telling a story.}}

(rhetoric) A technique that an author or speaker uses to evoke an emotional response in the audience; a rhetorical device .

(senseid)(heraldry) A motto, emblem, or other mark used to distinguish the bearer from others. A device differs from a badge or cognizance primarily because as it is a personal distinction, and not a badge borne by members of the same house successively.

* 1736 . O'Callaghan, Edmund Bailey. The Documentary History of the State of New York .

The devices of these savages are the serpent, the Deer, and the Small Acorn.

(archaic) Power of devising; invention; contrivance.

* 1824 . Landor, Walter Savage "King Henry IV and Sir Arnold Savage" from Imaginary Conversations of Literary Men and Statesmen , page 44

Moreover I must have instruments of mine own device , weighty, and exceeding costly

* 1976 . The Eagles, "Hotel California"

And she said,

"We are all prisoners here,

Of our own device "

(legal) An image used in whole or in part as a trademark or service mark.

(printing) An image or logo denoting official or proprietary authority or provenience.

* 1943 United States Post Office Department. A Description of United States Postage Stamps / Issued by the Post Office Department from July 1, 1847, to April 1, 1945 [sic] , USGPO, Washington, p1:

Prior to the issuance of the first stamps, letters accepted by postmasters for dispatch were marked "Paid" by means of pen and ink or hand stamps of various designs. [...] To facilitate the handling of mail matter, some postmasters provided special stamps or devices for use on letters as evidence of the prepayment of postage.

(obsolete) A spectacle or show.

(Beaumont and Fletcher)

(obsolete) Opinion; decision.