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d skill in managing any complicated or difficult affair; adroitness. His wisdom . . . was turned . . . into a dexterity to deliver himself. Bacon. He had conducted his own defense with singular boldness and dexterity. Hallam.

opposed to sinistral, or left. Dextral shell (Zoöl.), a spiral shell the whorls of which turn from left right, or like the hands of a watch when the apex of the spire is toward the eye of the observer.

having the property of turning the plane of polarized light to the right; as, dextrotartaric acid.

Turning, or causing to turn, toward the right hand; esp., turning the plane of polarization of luminous rays toward the right hand; as, dextrorotatory crystals, sugars, etc. Cf. Levorotatory.

Turning from the left to the right, in the ascending line, as in the spiral inclination of the stem of the common morning-glóry.

A sirupy, or white crystalline, variety of sugar, C6H12O6 (so called from turning the plane of polarization to the right), occurring in many ripe fruits. Dextrose and levulose are obtained by the inversion of cane sugar or sucrose, and hence called invert sugar. Dextrose is chiefly obtained by the action of heat and ac…

A figure by which arguments are placed in various points of view, and then turned to one point. Smart.

To turn up, or delve in, (earth) with a spade or a hoe; to open, loosen, or break up (the soil) with a spade, or other sharp instrument; to pierce, open, or loosen, as if with a spade. Be first to dig the ground. Dryden.

To step or turn aside; to deviate; to swerve; especially, to turn aside from the main subject of attention, or course of argument, in writing or speaking. Moreover she beginneth to digress in latitude. Holland. In the pursuit of an argument there is hardly room to digress into a particular definition as often as a man…

A turning aside from the right path; transgression; offense. [R.] Then my digression is so vile, so base, That it will live engraven in my face. Shak.

gums and teeth. [Southern U. S.] -- To dip the colors (Naut.), to lower the colors and return them to place; -- a form of naval salute.

to dismiss from military service; as, to disband an army. They disbanded themselves and returned, every man to his own dwelling. Knolles.

no longer of service; to dismiss from employment, confidence, or favor; to discharge; to turn away. They blame the favorites, and think it nothing extraordinary that the queen should . . . resolve to discard them. Swift.

; interrupted; broken off. A path that is zigzag, discontinuous, and intersected at every turn by human negligence. De Quincey.

ach upon; to make less reputable; to disgrace. He. . . least discredits his travels who returns the same man he went. Sir H. Wotton.

Full of disdain; expressing disdain; scornful; contemptuous; haughty. From these Turning disdainful to an equal good. Akenside. -- Dis*dain"ful*ly, adv. -- Dis*dain"ful*ness, n.

m a place of rest. [R.] Where Light and Darkness in perpetual round Lodge and dislodge by turns. Milton.

To turn away from the west; to throw out of reckoning as to longitude. [Obs.] Marvell.

To turn away from the cast; to confuse as to which way is east; to cause to lose one's bearings. [R.] Bp. Warburton.

To turn away from the east, or (figuratively) from the right or the truth. [R.]