sleight of hand

from WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)
sleight of hand
    n 1: manual dexterity in the execution of tricks [syn:
         {prestidigitation}, {sleight of hand}]
from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Sleight \Sleight\, n. [OE. sleighte, sleihte, sleithe, Icel.
   sl?g? (for sl?g?) slyness, cunning, fr. sl?gr (for sl?gr)
   sly, cunning. See {Sly}.]
   1. Cunning; craft; artful practice. [Obs.] "His sleight and
      his covin." --Chaucer.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. An artful trick; sly artifice; a feat so dexterous that
      the manner of performance escapes observation.
      [1913 Webster]

            The world hath many subtle sleights.  --Latimer.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. Dexterous practice; dexterity; skill. --Chaucer. "The
      juggler's sleight." --Hudibras.
      [1913 Webster]

   {Sleight of hand}, legerdemain; prestidigitation.
      [1913 Webster]
from Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
78 Moby Thesaurus words for "sleight of hand":
      Prospero, airiness, appearance, artful dodge, artifice,
      bag of tricks, blind, bluff, bosey, catch, chicanery, chouse,
      conjuration, curve, curve-ball, delusiveness, design, device,
      dirty deal, dirty trick, dodge, escamotage, fallaciousness,
      false appearance, false light, false show, falseness, fast deal,
      feint, fetch, ficelle, gambit, gimmick, googly, hanky-panky,
      hocus-pocus, hokey-pokey, idealization, illusionism, illusionist,
      illusiveness, immateriality, jiggery-pokery, joker, juggle,
      jugglery, juggling, legerdemain, magic, magic act, magic show,
      magician, monkey business, mumbo jumbo, pass, ploy,
      prestidigitation, ruse, scheme, scurvy trick, seeming, semblance,
      shift, show, simulacrum, sleight, sleight-of-hand trick, sorcerer,
      sorcery, specious appearance, stratagem, subterfuge, trick,
      trickery, unactuality, unreality, unsubstantiality, wile
antiflux / dictionary / sleight of hand
[email protected]