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Left to your own devices means being allowed to do what you want without help, instructions, or supervision. A person can decide for themselves what to do and how to do it.
The word devices once meant plans, wishes, or schemes rather than machines. The expression has been used since the 1400s to describe someone acting according to their own ideas when no one else is guiding them.
The word devices once meant plans, wishes, or schemes rather than machines. The expression has been used since the 1400s to describe someone acting according to their own ideas when no one else is guiding them.
The teacher stepped out for a few minutes and we were left to your own devices.