skill in feats requiring quick and clever movements of the hands, especially for entertainment or deception, as jugglery, card or coin magic, etc.; legerdemain.
2.
the performance of such feats.
3.
a feat of legerdemain.
4.
skill in deception.
Origin
1350-1400;Middle English
Examples from the web for sleight of hand
Phony, sleight of hand false equivalency right there.
Does he think that no one will notice this sleight of hand.
But the length and depth of the recession are forcing governments to go beyond sleight of hand to genuine cuts.
But with expert sleight of hand, he is able to find artistic benefits as well.
How a statistical sleight of hand can expose war crimes.
Advanced magic is about sleight of hand and card and coin tricks.
These programs did not develop out of financially engineered sleight of hand that failed to account for risk.
Misdirection and sleight of hand ensure that the mark never wins.
There's some sleight of hand with the blackjack and those cameras are so important to eliminate that sort of thing or cut it down.
British Dictionary definitions for sleight of hand
sleight of hand
noun
1.
manual dexterity used in performing conjuring tricks
2.
the performance of such tricks
Idioms and Phrases with sleight of hand
sleight of hand
Trickery, deviousness, as in By some sleight of hand they managed to overlook all bonuses. This term alludes to the performance of magic tricks with the hands. Its figurative use dates from about 1700.