sinistral
of, relating to, or on the left side; left (opposed to dextral).
(of certain gastropod shells) coiling counterclockwise, as seen from the apex.
Origin of sinistral
1Other words from sinistral
- sin·is·tral·ly, adverb
Words Nearby sinistral
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use sinistral in a sentence
A genus of minute land shells, resembling Vertigo, but separated because they are dextral, while Vertigo is sinistral.
A Conchological Manual | George Brettingham SowerbyDextral animals, with shell coiled pseudo-sinistrally; operculum with sinistral spiral; pallial cavity dorsal.
Shell bulimoid, dextral or sinistral; radular teeth, expanded at their extremities and multicuspidate.
Visceral mass and shell sinistral; inferior pallial lobe very prominent, and transformed into a branchia.
If we were very fortunate, we might find a sinistral, or “left-handed” specimen.
Our British Snails | John William Horsley
British Dictionary definitions for sinistral
/ (ˈsɪnɪstrəl) /
of, relating to, or located on the left side, esp the left side of the body
a technical term for left-handed
(of the shells of certain gastropod molluscs) coiling in a clockwise direction from the apex
Origin of sinistral
1- Compare dextral
Derived forms of sinistral
- sinistrally, adverb
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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