Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Deftness; dexterity.
  • noun A clever or skillful trick or deception; an artifice or stratagem.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Deceitful; artful.
  • noun Cunning; craft; subtlety.
  • noun Skill; dexterity; cleverness.
  • noun Art; contrivance; trick; stratagem; artful feat.
  • noun A feat or trick so skilfully or dexterously performed as to deceive the beholder; a feat of magic; a trick of legerdemain.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun obsolete Cunning; craft; artful practice.
  • noun An artful trick; sly artifice; a feat so dexterous that the manner of performance escapes observation.
  • noun Dexterous practice; dexterity; skill.
  • noun legerdemain; prestidigitation.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Cunning; craft; artful practice.
  • noun An artful trick; sly artifice; a feat so dexterous that the manner of performance escapes observation.
  • noun Dexterous practice; dexterity; skill.

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

[Middle English, alteration of sleahthe, from Old Norse slœgdh, from slœgr, sly.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Old Norse slœgð ("cunning"), from slœgr ("sly").

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Examples

Comments

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  • of hand, yo!

    February 3, 2008

  • Often used by magicians to refer to a particular move done during a magic trick.

    September 23, 2008