dextral

[dek-struhl]

adjective

1. of, relating to, or on the right side; right (sinistral ).

2. right-handed.

3. Zoology.,  Also (of certain gastropod shells) coiling clockwise, as seen from the apex.

dextral

/ ˈdɛkstrəl, dɛkˈstrælɪtɪ /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or located on the right side, esp of the body; right-hand

2. of or relating to a person who prefers to use his right foot, hand, or eye; right-handed

3. (of the shells of certain gastropod molluscs) coiling in an anticlockwise direction from the apex; dextrorse

Other Word Forms

• dextrality noun
• dextrally adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of dextral¹

1640–50; < Latin dext ( e ) r dexter + -al ¹

Example Sentences

Interestingly, almost all winter flounder wind up dextral.

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Given that handedness is apparent early in life and the vast majority of people are right-handed, we are almost certainly dextral by nature.

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Maslin stated that the anal tube is median in the specimens that he examined; we have not studied Maslin's specimens, but all tadpoles of Smilisca that we have examined have a dextral anal tube.

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Shell thin, dextral, with prominent spire and oval aperture; no inferior pallial lobe.

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Shell helicoidally coiled, dextral or sinistral, the last whorl generally uncoiled.

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