Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Skill and grace in physical movement, especially in the use of the hands; adroitness.
- noun Mental skill or adroitness; cleverness.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun Greater facility in using the right hand than the left; right-handedness.
- noun Manual skill; skill in using the hands, especially in mechanical or artistic work; hence, physical suppleness or adroitness in general; that readiness in action which proceeds from experience or practice, united with activity or precision of motion.
- noun Mental adroitness or skill; cleverness; promptness in devising expedients; quickness and skill in managing or conducting a scheme of operations.
- noun Synonyms Address, facility, faculty, tact, cleverness, aptness, aptitude, ability, art, knack.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun Right-handedness.
- noun Readiness and grace in physical activity; skill and ease in using the hands; expertness in manual acts.
- noun Readiness in the use or control of the mental powers; quickness and skill in managing any complicated or difficult affair; adroitness.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Skill in performing tasks, especially with the hands.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun adroitness in using the hands
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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They must nourish those whose eye or ear or manual dexterity is their greatest asset.
Education 2006
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They must nourish those whose eye or ear or manual dexterity is their greatest asset.
Education 2006
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They must nourish those whose eye or ear or manual dexterity is their greatest asset.
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They must nourish those whose eye or ear or manual dexterity is their greatest asset.
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They must nourish those whose eye or ear or manual dexterity is their greatest asset.
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Her dexterity is not notable either in comparison with the normal person, whose movements are guided by the eye, or, I am told, with other blind people.
The Story of My Life Annie Sullivan 1905
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Our language expresses this supremacy of the favoured side in the terms dexterity, adroitness and address, all of which allude to the right hand.
The Life of the Spider Jean-Henri Fabre 1869
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Peter Sellers’ comic dexterity is on display in three decidedly different roles, and George C. Scott and Sterling Hayden are also drop-dead funny in caricatures of trigger-happy military types.
Eric’s Top 10 Movies You Can Watch Over and Over Again » Scene-Stealers 2008
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His dexterity was a beautiful sight; but on looking back I wondered how human beings ever devised to cross such a flood.
The Hawaiian Archipelago Isabella Lucy 2004
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One day, meditating on this melancholy subject, I exercised myself in throwing stones at the trunks of trees, with my usual dexterity, that is to say, without hitting any of them.
The Confessions of J J Rousseau Rousseau, Jean Jacques 1896
sionnach commented on the word dexterity
fastidiousness in a serial killer
October 24, 2007
qroqqa commented on the word dexterity
also n. (rare) the future, esp. in phrase persevered for dexterity. Example:
I spent my first full day in Korea at the tomb of the Great Leader Comrade Kim Il Sung, yearning for the Red Sun of all mankind and seeing him persevered for dexterity.
—At Last, At Last My Visit to the DPRK!
October 13, 2009
seanahan commented on the word dexterity
I would say very rare; it seems the author forgot the word posterity.
October 19, 2009
bilby commented on the word dexterity
Why is this tagged madeupical?
October 19, 2009
Prolagus commented on the word dexterity
sionnach's definition is.
October 19, 2009