ambidexter
Definitions
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- adj. Double-dealing; deceitful; tricky.
- n. A person who uses both hands with equal facility.
- n. In law, a juror who takes money from both parties for giving his verdict.
This word comes from the Latin 'ambidexter,' right-handed on both sides. Ambidextrous, 'able to use both hands with equal facility,' comes from 'ambidexter.'
Examples
“She again burst forth, for nature having given her considerable abilities, had lent her at the same time an energy of passion, far superior in power to the cold ambition of Irene, or the wily, ambidexter, shuffling policy of the Emperor.”
“Graeme afterwards admitted to me that when I entered he was in the midst of a confession of the whole secret of the false play, to which confession he had been first driven by his internal monitor; and secondly, led or rather pulled on by the arch-ambidexter, whose game it was to cheat the cheater, and get the money from him upon some pretence of seeking out Mrs. Gourlay and paying the money to her.”
