dextral
Americanadjective
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of, relating to, or on the right side; right (opposed to sinistral).
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Zoology. Also (of certain gastropod shells) coiling clockwise, as seen from the apex.
adjective
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of, relating to, or located on the right side, esp of the body; right-hand
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of or relating to a person who prefers to use his right foot, hand, or eye; right-handed
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(of the shells of certain gastropod molluscs) coiling in an anticlockwise direction from the apex; dextrorse
Other Word Forms
- dextrality noun
- dextrally adverb
Etymology
Origin of dextral
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
An example of a dextral, right-lateral strike-slip fault is the San Andreas Fault, which denotes a transform boundary between the North American and Pacific plates.
From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2017
If the opposing block moves right, it is dextral motion.
From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2017
Given that handedness is apparent early in life and the vast majority of people are right-handed, we are almost certainly dextral by nature.
From Scientific American • Mar. 24, 2013
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.
From Neotropical Hylid Frogs, Genus Smilisca by Duellman, William E.
On this last hypothesis the mutation here considered might be a heterozygous specimen, with the dextral condition dominant in the head and the sinistral in the body.
From Hormones and Heredity by Cunningham, J. T.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
