Hypertext Webster Gateway: "deft"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Deft \Deft\, a. [OE. daft, deft, becoming, mild, gentle, stupid
(cf. OE. daffe, deffe, fool, coward), AS. d[ae]ft (in
derivatives only) mild, gentle, fitting, seasonable; akin to
dafen, gedafen, becoming, fit, Goth. gadaban to be fit. Cf.
{Daft}, {Daff}, {Dapper}.]
Apt; fit; dexterous; clever; handy; spruce; neat. [Archaic or
Poetic] ``The deftest way.'' --Shak. ``Deftest feats.''
--Gay.
The limping god, so deft at his new ministry. --Dryden.
Let me be deft and debonair. --Byron.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
deft
adj 1: quick and skillful in movement
2: skillful in physical movements; especially of the hands; "a
deft waiter"; "deft fingers massaged her face"; "dexterous
of hand and inventive of mind" [syn: {dexterous}, {dextrous}]
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