bottle imp

American  

noun

1. Cartesian diver.

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Etymology

Origin of bottle imp

First recorded in 1815–25

Example Sentences

God guides her, perhaps, or the devil—or merely a bottle imp.

From The Woman with the Fan by Hichens, Robert Smythe

Lacking the gift of divination, Thelismer Thornton watched the rapid development of this bottle imp with much complacency.

From The Ramrodders A Novel by Day, Holman

Yet, when compared with the nobler villains, Lolonois and Morgan, Kidd must have been a pirate upon an insignificant scale—a mere bottle imp by the side of Satan, as portrayed in stupendous grandeur by Milton!

From The Continental Monthly, Vol. 4, No. 2, August, 1863 Devoted to Literature and National Policy by Various

With the exception of an occasional fling at old Mrs. Billing, whom he seemed to regard as a joss or a bottle imp, he was temperate, too, in his remarks about everybody else.

From The High Heart by King, Basil

He’s one of the genii or a bottle imp.

From Ruth Fielding Down in Dixie Great Times in the Land of Cotton by Emerson, Alice B.