device

noun

• 1a thing made or adapted for a particular purpose, especially a piece of mechanical or electronic equipment:a measuring device
• a bomb or other explosive weapon:an incendiary device

• 2a plan, method, or trick with a particular aim:writing a letter to a newspaper is a traditional device for signalling dissent
• a form of words intended to produce a particular effect in speech or a literary work:a rhetorical device

• 3a drawing or design:the decorative device on the invitations
• an emblematic or heraldic design:their shields bear the device of the Blazing Sun
• [mass noun] archaic the design or look of something:works of strange device