1- to create, fashion, execute, or construct according to plan: DEVISE, CONTRIVE design a system for tracking inventory 2- a: to conceive and plan out in the mind b: to have as a purpose: INTEND c: to devise for a specific function or end 3- archaic: to indicate with a distinctive mark, sign, or name 4- a: to make a drawing, pattern, or sketch of … a curious woman whose dresses always looked as if they had been designed in a rage … — Oscar Wilde b: to draw the plans for