sleight of hand

Definition

The required manual dexterity behind magic tricks and illusions.

Etymology

From Middle English slegthe of hande, sleght of hond, equivalent to sleight + of + hand. Compare Old French léger de main (cf. the contemporary French léger de main and the contemporary English legerdemain).

Example Sentences

• "A large portion of natural magic and sleight of hand is only the severance of sights and feels that we are accustomed to experience in unison."
• "Frequently this practitioner would keep a stock of elf-shot from which one would be produced by sleight of hand from the ailing animal's flank as evidence that it had indeed been elf-shot."
• "The Man Who Broke Britain (BBC2) was a heady concoction of fact and fiction. Real politicians assured us everything was going to be just fine while actors, playing city traders, groaned that it was hopeless, hopeless. It was part of the film's sleight of hand that the actors, who were deliberately chosen because they were not well known, looked real too."