Adjacent Words

sleight of hand definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: manual dexterity in the execution of tricks [syn: prestidigitation, sleight of hand]

Merriam Webster's

Date: 1593 1. a. a cleverly executed trick or deception b. a conjuring trick requiring manual dexterity 2. a. skill and dexterity in conjuring tricks b. adroitness in deception

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Sleight Sleight, n. [OE. sleighte, sleihte, sleithe, Icel. sl?g? (for sl?g?) slyness, cunning, fr. sl?gr (for sl?gr) sly, cunning. See Sly.] 1. Cunning; craft; artful practice. [Obs.] ``His sleight and his covin.'' --Chaucer. 2. An artful trick; sly artifice; a feat so dexterous that the manner of performance escapes observation. The world hath many subtle sleights. --Latimer. 3. Dexterous practice; dexterity; skill. --Chaucer. ``The juggler's sleight.'' --Hudibras. Sleight of hand, legerdemain; prestidigitation.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(sleights of hand) Sleight of hand is the deceiving of someone in a skilful way. He accused Mr MacGregor of 'sleight of hand'. N-VAR

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

Legerdemain, hocus-pocus, jugglery, prestidigitation.

Moby Thesaurus

Prospero, airiness, appearance, artful dodge, artifice, bag of tricks, blind, bluff, bosey, catch, chicanery, chouse, conjuration, curve, curve-ball, delusiveness, design, device, dirty deal, dirty trick, dodge, escamotage, fallaciousness, false appearance, false light, false show, falseness, fast deal, feint, fetch, ficelle, gambit, gimmick, googly, hanky-panky, hocus-pocus, hokey-pokey, idealization, illusionism, illusionist, illusiveness, immateriality, jiggery-pokery, joker, juggle, jugglery, juggling, legerdemain, magic, magic act, magic show, magician, monkey business, mumbo jumbo, pass, ploy, prestidigitation, ruse, scheme, scurvy trick, seeming, semblance, shift, show, simulacrum, sleight, sleight-of-hand trick, sorcerer, sorcery, specious appearance, stratagem, subterfuge, trick, trickery, unactuality, unreality, unsubstantiality, wile