a. [ OE. right, riht, AS. riht; akin to D. regt, OS. & OHG. reht, G. recht, Dan. ret, Sw. rätt, Icel. rettr, Goth. raíhts, L. rectus, p. p. of regere to guide, rule; cf. Skr. &rsdot_;ju straight, right. √115. Cf. Adroit, Alert, Correct, Dress, Regular, Rector, Recto, Rectum, Regent, Region, Realm, Rich, Royal, Rule. ] 1. Straight; direct; not crooked; as, a right line. “Right as any line.” Chaucer [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Upright; erect from a base; having an upright axis; not oblique; as, right ascension; a right pyramid or cone. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

That which is conformable to the Supreme Rule is absolutely right, and is called right simply without relation to a special end. Whately. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Fit; suitable; proper; correct; becoming; as, the right man in the right place; the right way from London to Oxford. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Characterized by reality or genuineness; real; actual; not spurious. “His right wife.” Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

In this battle, . . . the Britons never more plainly manifested themselves to be right barbarians. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

You are right, Justice, and you weigh this well. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

If there be no prospect beyond the grave, the inference is . . . right, “Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die.” Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. Most favorable or convenient; fortunate. [ 1913 Webster ]

The lady has been disappointed on the right side. Spectator. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Became the sovereign's favorite, his right hand. Longfellow. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

9. Well placed, disposed, or adjusted; orderly; well regulated; correctly done. [ 1913 Webster ]

10. Designed to be placed or worn outward; as, the right side of a piece of cloth. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Right is used elliptically for it is right, what you say is right, true. [ 1913 Webster ]

“Right, ” cries his lordship. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Straight; direct; perpendicular; upright; lawful; rightful; true; correct; just; equitable; proper; suitable; becoming. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To recover the proper or natural condition or position; to become upright. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Naut.) Hence, to regain an upright position, as a ship or boat, after careening. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ AS. right. See Right, a. ] 1. That which is right or correct. Specifically: (a) The straight course; adherence to duty; obedience to lawful authority, divine or human; freedom from guilt, -- the opposite of moral wrong. (b) A true statement; freedom from error of falsehood; adherence to truth or fact. [ 1913 Webster ]

Seldom your opinions err;
Your eyes are always in the right. Prior. [ 1913 Webster ]

(c) A just judgment or action; that which is true or proper; justice; uprightness; integrity. [ 1913 Webster ]

Long love to her has borne the faithful knight,
And well deserved, had fortune done him right. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. That to which one has a just claim. Specifically: (a) That which one has a natural claim to exact. [ 1913 Webster ]

There are no rights whatever, without corresponding duties. Coleridge. [ 1913 Webster ]

(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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Born free, he sought his right. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

Hast thou not right to all created things? Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Men have no right to what is not reasonable. Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]

(d) Privilege or immunity granted by authority. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The right side; the side opposite to the left. [ 1913 Webster ]

Led her to the Souldan's right. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. In some legislative bodies of Europe (as in France), those members collectively who are conservatives or monarchists. See Center, 5. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. The outward or most finished surface, as of a piece of cloth, a carpet, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ] He should himself use it by right. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ] I should have been a woman by right. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ] --
Divine right, or
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. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Righted; p. pr. & vb. n. Righting. ] [ AS. rihtan. See Right, a. ] 1. To bring or restore to the proper or natural position; to set upright; to make right or straight (that which has been wrong or crooked); to correct. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

So just is God, to right the innocent. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. 1. In a right manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Unto Dian's temple goeth she right. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

Let thine eyes look right on. Prov. iv. 25. [ 1913 Webster ]

Right across its track there lay,
Down in the water, a long reef of gold. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Exactly; just. [ Obs. or Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Came he right now to sing a raven's note? Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. According to any rule of art; correctly. [ 1913 Webster ]

You with strict discipline instructed right. Roscommon. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. According to fact or truth; actually; truly; really; correctly; exactly; as, to tell a story right. “Right at mine own cost.” Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

Right as it were a steed of Lumbardye. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

His wounds so smarted that he slept right naught. Fairfax. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. In a great degree; very; wholly; unqualifiedly; extremely; highly; as, right humble; right noble; right valiant. “He was not right fat”. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

For which I should be right sorry. Tyndale. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ I ] return those duties back as are right fit. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ In this sense now chiefly prefixed to titles; as, right honorable; right reverend. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Right is used in composition with other adverbs, as upright, downright, forthright, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

Right along, without cessation; continuously; as, to work right along for several hours. [ Colloq. U.S. ] --
Right away, or
Right off, at once; straightway; without delay. [ Colloq. U.S. ] “We will . . . shut ourselves up in the office and do the work right off.” D. Webster. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Right, adv. + about, adv. ] A turning directly about by the right, so as to face in the opposite direction; also, the quarter directly opposite; as, to turn to the right-about. [ 1913 Webster ]

To send to the right-about, to cause to turn toward the opposite point or quarter; -- hence, of troops, to cause to turn and retreat. [ Colloq. ] Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Containing a right angle or right angles; as, a right-angled triangle. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To do justice to. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Relieve [ marginal reading, righten ] the opressed. Isa. i. 17. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ OE. rightways, rightwise, AS. rightwīs; riht right + wīs wise, having wisdom, prudent. See Right, a., Wise, a. ] Doing, or according with, that which is right; yielding to all their due; just; equitable; especially, free from wrong, guilt, or sin; holy; as, a righteous man or act; a righteous retribution. [ 1913 Webster ]

Fearless in his righteous cause. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Upright; just; godly; holy; uncorrupt; virtuous; honest; equitable; rightful. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Made righteous. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]