/djuːs/, /d͡ʒuːs/, /dus/
OriginFrom Middle English dewes (“two”), from Anglo-Norman, from Old French deus, from Latin duo. The word was used by Ford Motor Co. in 1932 to describe a two-seater car model.
- A card with two pips, one of four in a standard deck of playing cards.
“You see, Sir, when I look at the Ace it reminds me that there is but one God. The deuce reminds me that the bible is divided into two parts; the Old and New Testaments. And when I see the trey I think”
- A side of a die with two spots.
- A cast of dice totalling two.
- Canada, US, slangA piece of excrement; number two.
- Canada, slangA two-year prison sentence.
“Bisexual male, 28, doing a deuce in a segregated housing unit due to positive HIV test result, seeks correspondence from both genders.”
- A hand gesture consisting of a raised index and middle finger, a peace sign.
- A tied game where either player can win by scoring two consecutive points.
- A curveball.
- A 1932 Ford.
“And she was blinded by the light/Oh, cut loose like a deuce, another runner in the night.”
“It belonged to “the 1932 guy,” who had four or five Deuces sitting in his yard.”
- in-pluralTwo-barrel (twin choke) carburetors (in the phrase three deuces: an arrangement on a common intake manifold).
- slangA table seating two diners.
- archaic, slangA twopence coin.
“It was a shame of the chalk-takers to take their fee without even scoring one little mark; but chalk-takers are inexorable and must be paid their twopence. 'Down with your deuces', was the demand afte”
- euphemistic, slangdouche
- The Devil, used in exclamations of confusion or anger.
“Love is a bodily infirmity […] which breaks out the deuce knows how or why”
“To sit, staring at those fixed glazed eyes, in silence for a moment, would play, Scrooge felt, the very deuce with him.”
“"Why, Job, you old son of a gun, where the deuce have we got to now - eh?"”
- Synonym of devil (“something awkward or difficult”).
“We had a deuce of a time getting here.”
- alt-ofAlternative letter-case form of deuce (“the Devil”).
““I should not allow any one to inconvenience me, if I could hinder it—walk in!” The “walk in,” was uttered with closed teeth and expressed the sentiment, “Go to the Deuce!””
““How in the Deuce’s name can they set up correctly from copy like that?” demanded he, in a fury.”
“THE Dickens Christmas has gone to the Deuce. Dickens probably did as much for the humanity of his time as most men, and certainly did more for Christmas than any man living or dead. Yet the Christmas ”
Formsdeuces(plural) · the Deuce(canonical)
Source: Wiktionary — CC BY-SA 4.0