devil's teeth

An old and evocative slang term for dice — the small numbered cubes used in gambling games. The name captures the deep suspicion that religious and moralist traditions held toward gambling: dice were literally the devil's tools, instruments of chance that could ruin lives and corrupt souls. The imagery of bones is doubly apt, since early dice were often carved from animal bones. Today the phrase surfaces in historical contexts, period fiction, and as a dramatic way to refer to dice in any setting.

(slang) used for gambling.

A dated British slang term for a riot, uproar, or general commotion — a state of chaos and noise. The phrase implies something beyond a mere disturbance, elevating the disorder to something that even the devil would enjoy. Found in older British slang literature and occasionally in period fiction.

(gambling, slang) A cheater's dice that contain metal slugs and are influenced by a magnet.