sleight of hand
- skill in feats requiring quick and clever movements of the hands, especially for entertainment or deception, as jugglery, card or coin magic, etc.; legerdemain.
- the performance of such feats.
- a feat of legerdemain.
- skill in deception.
Origin of sleight of hand
Related Words for sleight of hand
chicanery, deception, trickery, deceit, double-dealing, hocus-pocus, legerdemain, magic, prestidigitation, conjurationExamples from the Web for sleight of hand
Contemporary Examples of sleight of hand
Like any good suspense novelist, Shields is a master of evasion and sleight-of-hand.
Catching Fire perpetuates an ideological vision that, today, is a sleight-of-hand.
In the smoke and mirrors of the fashion world, Wang is an expert at sleight-of-hand.
Historical Examples of sleight of hand
The laugh which followed this sleight-of-hand was loud, long, and universal.
Vivian GreyEarl of Beaconsfield, Benjamin Disraeli
It may be, that, as you would suspect, even this might be sleight-of-hand.
Gerald FitzgeraldCharles James Lever
Being a sleight-of-hand performer, he can do things that you could not see.
Young Wild West at "Forbidden Pass"An Old Scout
I asked him how he accounted for this wonderful display of sleight-of-hand.
The Chronicles of a Gay GordonJos Maria Gordon
He may be an illusionist pure and simple and does not indulge in sleight-of-hand at all.
Indian ConjuringL. H. Branson
sleight of hand
- manual dexterity used in performing conjuring tricks
- the performance of such tricks
Idioms and Phrases with sleight of hand
sleight of hand
Trickery, deviousness, as in By some sleight of hand they managed to overlook all bonuses. This term alludes to the performance of magic tricks with the hands. Its figurative use dates from about 1700.