\Right\ (r[imac]t), a. [OE. right, riht, AS. riht; akin to
D. regt, OS. & OHG. reht, G. recht, Dan. ret, Sw. r["a]tt,
Icel. r["e]ttr, Goth. ra['i]hts, L. rectus, p. p. of regere
to guide, rule; cf. Skr. [.r]ju straight, right. [root]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
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.

\Right\, adv.
1. In a right manner.
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.
Note: Right is used in composition with other adverbs, as
      upright, downright, forthright, etc.
{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.

\Right\, 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.
             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}, 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.

\Right\, 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.
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.

\Right\, v. i.
1. To recover the proper or natural condition or position; to
   become upright.
2. (Naut.) Hence, to regain an upright position, as a ship or
   boat, after careening.