as in concocting
to create or think of by clever use of the imagination
she quickly devised a new scheme when the first one failed
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Recent Examples of devising
The Panthers spent most of Saturday’s game (as well as their previous matchup with the Rams) devising ways to get McMillan and Coker running down the field against those small corners.
—
Derrik Klassen, New York Times, 14 Jan. 2026
The 40-year-old cooks up ways to make quarterbacks miserable in his sleep, devising schemes that are meant to lure as much as they are intended to confuse.
—Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 10 Jan. 2026
Companies are actively devising strategies to counteract muscle loss in people taking the drugs.
—Isabella Cueto, STAT, 29 Dec. 2025
Sondheim got to work at eight o’clock one night, devising a version of the murder game in which all the players would have to use their wits to untangle the mystery.
—Michael Schulman, New Yorker, 15 Dec. 2025
With no one to help, Watney spends his solitary days tinkering — devising a way to grow potatoes in Martian soil, jury-rigging equipment, and solving one problem after another.
—Big Think, 26 Nov. 2025
Jesse Minter, the man tasked with devising a plan to slow down Rodgers when the Chargers play host to the Steelers on Sunday night at SoFi Stadium, will be 43 on May 9.
—Elliott Teaford, Oc Register, 7 Nov. 2025
Yet, after its ratification in 1870, Southern states set about trying to circumvent the amendment's intent by devising new ways to shape, control, and limit voting.
—Time, 29 Oct. 2025
For 39 years, Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act has required redistricting institutions to consider racial and ethnic minority representation when devising congressional districts.
—Sam D. Hayes, The Conversation, 13 Oct. 2025
Derrik Klassen, New York Times, 14 Jan. 2026
The 40-year-old cooks up ways to make quarterbacks miserable in his sleep, devising schemes that are meant to lure as much as they are intended to confuse.
—Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 10 Jan. 2026
Companies are actively devising strategies to counteract muscle loss in people taking the drugs.
—Isabella Cueto, STAT, 29 Dec. 2025
Sondheim got to work at eight o’clock one night, devising a version of the murder game in which all the players would have to use their wits to untangle the mystery.
—Michael Schulman, New Yorker, 15 Dec. 2025
With no one to help, Watney spends his solitary days tinkering — devising a way to grow potatoes in Martian soil, jury-rigging equipment, and solving one problem after another.
—Big Think, 26 Nov. 2025
Jesse Minter, the man tasked with devising a plan to slow down Rodgers when the Chargers play host to the Steelers on Sunday night at SoFi Stadium, will be 43 on May 9.
—Elliott Teaford, Oc Register, 7 Nov. 2025
Yet, after its ratification in 1870, Southern states set about trying to circumvent the amendment's intent by devising new ways to shape, control, and limit voting.
—Time, 29 Oct. 2025
For 39 years, Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act has required redistricting institutions to consider racial and ethnic minority representation when devising congressional districts.
—Sam D. Hayes, The Conversation, 13 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for devising
Verb
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The reality is that the AI is concocting elaborate personas, faking as though humans are writing about human woes.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes.com,
29 Jan. 2026
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Both activities can be fairly ordinary hobbies—games of imagination not so different from crushing on a pop star or concocting stories about a film protagonist.—
Faith Hill,
The Atlantic,
17 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The nonprofit expects to spend another $6 million over the next couple years constructing its new campus.—
Sara B. Hansen,
Denver Post,
31 Jan. 2026
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Is Mark Zuckerberg constructing a gold mine or a financial sinkhole?—
Trefis Team,
Forbes.com,
29 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Thomas Edison had many misses inventing the lightbulb.—
Teri Sforza,
Oc Register,
24 Jan. 2026
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Created by Terry Nation, the man credited with inventing the Daleks, Blake’s 7 aired for four seasons on the BBC from 1978 to 1981.—
Max Goldbart,
Deadline,
19 Jan. 2026
Verb
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There are also some clever design details, such as the hidden metal speaker grilles, a nod to Bang & Olufsen’s ethos of designing products outside in and inside out with an eye for detail.—
Mark Sparrow,
Forbes.com,
30 Jan. 2026
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In their announcement, the Teamsters cast their entry into the campaign as striking back at the artificial intelligence companies designing technologies that threaten the jobs of the union’s roughly 250,000 members.—
Andrew Graham,
Sacbee.com,
30 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Devising.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/devising. Accessed 1 Feb. 2026.
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