释义 |
ambidexterity|ˌæmbɪdɛkˈstɛrɪtɪ| [f. prec. + -ity, after dexterity.] 1. The power of using both hands alike.
a1652Brome Court Beggar i. i. 191 Some Tellers Clearke to teach you Ambo-dexterity in telling money. 1753Chambers Cycl. Supp. s.v., Plato enjoins Ambidexterity to be observed and encouraged in his republic. 1881Times 2 Feb. 10/5 The single-stick play..was remarkable for its ambidexterity. 2. fig. Superior dexterity or cleverness; shiftiness or general readiness; manysidedness.
1760Sterne Tr. Shandy iii. xxxvii. 103 Speculative subtilty or ambidexterity of argumentation. 1804W. Taylor Ann. Rev. II. 278 The idiomatic ambidexterity of a patriot of both countries. 1858De Quincey Autobiog. Sk. Wks. II. ii. 76 Presence of mind, and a general ambidexterity of powers for facing all accidents. 3. Double-dealing.
1755in Johnson. 1841D'Israeli Amen. Lit. (1859) I. 362 That intricate net of general misery, spun out of his own crafty ambidexterity. |