Word.ws English Dictionary

lets the devil out

lets the devil out is the third-person singular simple present indicative of let the devil out.

Meaning of let the devil out

Verb

let the devil out (third-person singular simple present lets the devil out, present participle letting the devil out, simple past and past participle let the devil out)

  1. To ward off bad luck.
    • After fifteen minutes you had to pierce a hole in the back of each shell, to let the devil out and the sauce in', and then you had to rinse them clean in the water in which they had boiled.1994, Louis De Bernières, Captain Corelli's Mandolin
  2. To behave badly or cause to behave badly.
    • He paused a moment to let logic sink in. Then he let the devil out. “You don't, I'm gonna punch you in the face, piss in your lobby, and shit in your kitchen..."2009, Barry Pollack, Forty-Eight X: The Lumeria Project

Questions about lets the devil out

What is lets the devil out the third-person singular simple present indicative of?
Lets the devil out is the third-person singular simple present indicative of let the devil out.

Words near lets the devil out in the dictionary

  1. lets the buyer beware
  2. lets the cat out
  3. lets the cat out of the bag
  4. lets the cat out the bag
  5. lets the chips fall where they may
  6. lets the devil out
  7. lets the dice fall where they may
  8. lets the grass grow round one's feet
  9. lets the grass grow under one's feet
  10. lets through
  11. lets up

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: lets the devil out (page history and authors); let the devil out (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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