double-handedness

See also: doublehandedness

English

Alternative forms

• doublehandedness

Etymology

From double-handed +‎ -ness.

Noun

double-handedness (uncountable)

1. The use of both hands together.
   • 1906, H. V. Hart-Davis, Chats on Angling, page 45:

     Such chaff may provoke a passing smile, but no chaff will ever detract one iota from the value of double-handedness, and I most strongly urge all anglers, old or young, to devote some little time and attention to the acquirement of this ...

2. Ambidexterity
   • 1987, Michael Rutter, Developmental Psychiatry, →ISBN, page 156:

     According to Subirana (1969) one quarter of the population is preponderantly right-handed; one third shows right predominance; one quarter shows mixed or double-handedness, and one sixth a left predominance.

3. The use of two people, working together.
   • 1901, Annual Report of the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the State of New York for the Year 1900:

     It is very gratifying to cite here the rather significant fact that a man and wife, Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Gordon, are joint workers in the conduct of the Settlement; that this double-handedness is a great advantage...

4. Duality, the quality of serving two purposes or having two (often contradictory) facets.
   • 1997, Jacques Lezra, Unspeakable Subjects: The Genealogy of the Event in Early Modern Europe, →ISBN:

     The rhetorical double-handedness of this proclamation (an "although" balanced by a "yet,", its "quiet enjoyment" set off by the threat of confiscation and death), already remarkably akin to the palinode or table razing in Lucio's tale, expresses the institutional ambivalence toward privateering, and eventually toward piracy, generated in part by Elizabeth's support for the corsairs, in part by their continuing importance as a class of mariners to be drawn on in time of war.

   • 2014, Rosemary Lloyd, Madame Bovary (Routledge Revivals), →ISBN, page 86:

     Yet here again Flaubert is able to reveal both the clichéd nature of the images and scenarios, and the lyrical attractions of such works for Emma, a double-handedness reminiscent of his own duality.

5. Deceit or hypocrisy.
   • 2013, Dr Sarah D P Cockram, Isabella d'Este and Francesco Gonzaga: Power Sharing at the Italian Renaissance Court, →ISBN:

     In her relationships with the Montefeltro and Borgia, Isabella continued to ensure that double-handedness was not exposed, presenting diverse appearances of reality to different audiences to preserve alliance.

   • 1993, Chidi Ngangah, Through laughter and tears: modern Nigerian short stories, page 71:

     Seemingly forever, our race had found cause to call the whites devils, for their unyielding sense of exploitation; their double-handedness in dealing; their tongue-in-cheek fraternising.