sleight, slight ( gh silent), slehthe, sleighte, sleighth, sleithe

& a. [Icel. slæghd =slyne , cunning; from slægr =sly (q.v.); Sw. slogd =mechanical art, dexterity; from slög hardy, dexterous, expert.] A. As substantive : 1. An artful trick; a trick so dexterously performed as to escape detection. "Whatever sleights , none would suspicious mark." Milton: P. L., ix. 92. *2. An art; a skillful operation. "Distilled by magic sleights." Shakesp.: Macbeth, iii. 5. 3. Dexterity, expertne , dexterous practice. "Lookers on feel most delight, That least perceive the juggler's sleight ." Butler: Hudibras, II. iii. 4. *B. As adj.: Deceitful, artful. "Spells Of power to cheat the eye with sleight illusion." Milton: Comus (MS.). Sleight of hand: Legerdemain, prestidigitation. "Will ye see any feats of activity, Some sleight of hand , legerdemain?" Beaum. & Flet.: Beggar's Bush , iii, 1. slender-striped rufous-moth, s. Entom.: A European geometer moth, Phibalap teryx lapidata . slěn-der-ly, adv. [Eng. slender; ly.] In a slender manner; slightly, feebly, inadequately, sparely, sparingly, meanly. "He hath ever but slenderly known himself." --Shakesp .: Lear , i. 1.