2. Upright; erect from a base; having an upright axis; not
oblique; as, right ascension; a right pyramid or cone.
3. Conformed to the constitution of man and the will of God,
or to justice and equity; not deviating from the true and
just; according with truth and duty; just; true.
That which is conformable to the Supreme Rule is
absolutely right, and is called right simply without
relation to a special end. --Whately.
2. Fit; suitable; proper; correct; becoming; as, the right
man in the right place; the right way from London to
Oxford.
5. Characterized by reality or genuineness; real; actual; not
spurious. ``His right wife.'' --Chaucer.
In this battle, . . . the Britons never more plainly
manifested themselves to be right barbarians.
--Milton.
6. According with truth; passing a true judgment; conforming
to fact or intent; not mistaken or wrong; not erroneous;
correct; as, this is the right faith.
You are right, Justice, and you weigh this well.
--Shak.
If there be no prospect beyond the grave, the
inference is . . . right, ``Let us eat and drink,
for to-morrow we die.'' --Locke.
7. Most favorable or convenient; fortunate.
The lady has been disappointed on the right side.
--Spectator.
8. Of or pertaining to that side of the body in man on which
the muscular action is usually stronger than on the other
side; -- opposed to left when used in reference to a part
of the body; as, the right side, hand, arm. Also applied
to the corresponding side of the lower animals.
Became the sovereign's favorite, his right hand.
--Longfellow.
Note: In designating the banks of a river, right and left are
used always with reference to the position of one who
is facing in the direction of the current's flow.
9. Well placed, disposed, or adjusted; orderly; well
regulated; correctly done.
10. Designed to be placed or worn outward; as, the right side
of a piece of cloth.
{At right angles}, so as to form a right angle or right
angles, as when one line crosses another perpendicularly.
{Right and left}, in both or all directions. [Colloq.]
{Right and left coupling} (Pipe fitting), a coupling the
opposite ends of which are tapped for a right-handed screw
and a left-handed screw, respectivelly.
{Right angle}.
(a) The angle formed by one line meeting another
perpendicularly, as the angles ABD, DBC.
(b) (Spherics) A spherical angle included between the
axes of two great circles whose planes are
perpendicular to each other.
{Right ascension}. See under {Ascension}.
{Right Center} (Politics), those members belonging to the
Center in a legislative assembly who have sympathies with
the Right on political questions. See {Center}, n., 5.
{Right cone}, {Right cylinder}, {Right prism}, {Right
pyramid} (Geom.), a cone, cylinder, prism, or pyramid, the
axis of which is perpendicular to the base.
{Right line}. See under {Line}.
{Right sailing} (Naut.), sailing on one of the four cardinal
points, so as to alter a ship's latitude or its longitude,
but not both. --Ham. Nav. Encyc.
{Right sphere} (Astron. & Geol.), a sphere in such a position
that the equator cuts the horizon at right angles; in
spherical projections, that position of the sphere in
which the primitive plane coincides with the plane of the
equator.
Note: Right is used elliptically for it is right, what you
say is right, true.
``Right,'' cries his lordship. --Pope.
Syn: Straight; direct; perpendicular; upright; lawful;
rightful; true; correct; just; equitable; proper;
suitable; becoming.
2. In a right or straight line; directly; hence; straightway;
immediately; next; as, he stood right before me; it went
right to the mark; he came right out; he followed right
after the guide.
Unto Dian's temple goeth she right. --Chaucer.
Let thine eyes look right on. --Prov. iv.
25.
Right across its track there lay, Down in the water,
a long reef of gold. --Tennyson.
3. Exactly; just. [Obs. or Colloq.]
Came he right now to sing a raven's note? --Shak.
4. According to the law or will of God; conforming to the
standard of truth and justice; righteously; as, to live
right; to judge right.
5. According to any rule of art; correctly.
You with strict discipline instructed right.
--Roscommon.
6. According to fact or truth; actually; truly; really;
correctly; exactly; as, to tell a story right. ``Right at
mine own cost.'' --Chaucer.
Right as it were a steed of Lumbardye. --Chaucer.
His wounds so smarted that he slept right naught.
--Fairfax.
7. In a great degree; very; wholly; unqualifiedly; extremely;
highly; as, right humble; right noble; right valiant. ``He
was not right fat''. --Chaucer.
For which I should be right sorry. --Tyndale.
[I] return those duties back as are right fit.
--Shak.
Note: In this sense now chiefly prefixed to titles; as, right
honorable; right reverend.
{Right honorable}, a title given in England to peers and
peeresses, to the eldest sons and all daughters of such
peers as have rank above viscounts, and to all privy
councilors; also, to certain civic officers, as the lord
mayor of London, of York, and of Dublin.
Seldom your opinions err; Your eyes are always
in the right. --Prior.
(c) A just judgment or action; that which is true or
proper; justice; uprightness; integrity.
Long love to her has borne the faithful knight,
And well deserved, had fortune done him right.
--Dryden.
2. That to which one has a just claim. Specifically:
(a) That which one has a natural claim to exact.
There are no rights whatever, without
corresponding duties. --Coleridge.
(b) That which one has a legal or social claim to do or to
exact; legal power; authority; as, a sheriff has a
right to arrest a criminal.
(c) That which justly belongs to one; that which one has a
claim to possess or own; the interest or share which
anyone has in a piece of property; title; claim;
interest; ownership.
Born free, he sought his right. --Dryden.
Hast thou not right to all created things?
--Milton.
Men have no right to what is not reasonable.
--Burke.
(d) Privilege or immunity granted by authority.
3. The right side; the side opposite to the left.
Led her to the Souldan's right. --Spenser.
4. In some legislative bodies of Europe (as in France), those
members collectively who are conservatives or monarchists.
See {Center}, 5.
5. The outward or most finished surface, as of a piece of
cloth, a carpet, etc.
{At all right}, at all points; in all respects. [Obs.]
--Chaucer.
{Bill of rights}, a list of rights; a paper containing a
declaration of rights, or the declaration itself. See
under {Bill}.
{By right}, {By rights}, or {By good rights}, rightly;
properly; correctly.
He should himself use it by right. --Chaucer.
I should have been a woman by right. --Shak.
{Divine right of kings}, a name given to the patriarchal
theory of government, especially to the doctrine that no
misconduct and no dispossession can forfeit the right of a
monarch or his heirs to the throne, and to the obedience
of the people.
{To rights}.
(a) In a direct line; straight. [R.] --Woodward.
(b) At once; directly. [Obs. or Colloq.] --Swift.
{To set to rights}, {To put to rights}, to put in good order;
to adjust; to regulate, as what is out of order.
{Writ of right} (Law), a writ which lay to recover lands in
fee simple, unjustly withheld from the true owner.
--Blackstone.
2. (Naut.) Hence, to regain an upright position, as a ship or
boat, after careening.
2. To do justice to; to relieve from wrong; to restore rights
to; to assert or regain the rights of; as, to right the
oppressed; to right one's self; also, to vindicate.
So just is God, to right the innocent. --Shak.
All experience hath shown that mankind are more
disposed to suffer while evils are sufferable, than
to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which
they are accustomed. --Jefferson.
{To right a vessel} (Naut.), to restore her to an upright
position after careening.
{To right the helm} (Naut.), to place it in line with the
keel.