double-handedness

Noun

double-handedness (uncountable)

1. The use of both hands together.
   • 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 ...1906, H. V. Hart-Davis, Chats on Angling, page 45
2. Ambidexterity
   • 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.1987, Michael Rutter, Developmental Psychiatry, →ISBN, page 156
3. The use of two people, working together.
   • 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...1901, Annual Report of the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the State of New York for the Year 1900
4. Duality, the quality of serving two purposes or having two (often contradictory) facets.
   • 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...1997, Jacques Lezra, Unspeakable Subjects: The Genealogy of the Event in Early Modern Europe, →ISBN
   • 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.2014, Rosemary Lloyd, Madame Bovary (Routledge Revivals), →ISBN, page 86
5. Deceit or hypocrisy.
   • 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.2013, Dr Sarah D P Cockram, Isabella d'Este and Francesco Gonzaga: Power Sharing at the Italian Renaissance Court, →ISBN
   • 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.1993, Chidi Ngangah, Through laughter and tears: modern Nigerian short stories, page 71