See Also: left(dictionary)
left(encyclopedia)
left(medicine)
stage left(dictionary)
left-handed(dictionary)
left field(dictionary)
left hand(dictionary)
left wing(dictionary)
left-hander(dictionary)
shunt, right to left(medicine)

left (iou)



left adjective, adverb, & noun.
[Old English lyft- in lyftadl (disease) paralysis, Kentish left, corresp. to East Frisian luf, Dutch dial. loof weak, worthless, Middle Dutch, Low German luchter, lucht, luft, Northern Frisian leeft, leefter left: ult. origin unkn.]
A. adjective.
Weak. Only in OE.
Designating that side of the body which is usually the weaker of the two and which is in the position of west if one is facing north, its individual parts, and (occas.) their clothing; designating the corresponding side of any other body or object. ME.
have two left feet be awkward or clumsy.
Milton Who stooping op'nd my left side, and took From thence a Rib. E. Waugh Pins and needles in my left leg. G. Greene Kay..winked her left eye.
That has the relative position of the left side with respect to the right. (Sometimes with ref. to the direction in which an object is considered to face, sometimes with ref. to an object's appearance to a spectator.) In pred. use usu. foll. by of; in attrib. use now chiefly replaced by left-hand, exc. in certain special collocations (see below). ME.
I. Murdoch Is he on the left side of the road or the right side?
b. Math. Designating an entity whose definition involves two elements in a conventionally defined order, opposite to that designated as right. M20.
(Also Left.) Of or pertaining to the left in politics, philosophy, etc. See sense C.2 below. M19.
T. E. Lawrence We are the more liberal ('left' in the Parliamentary sense).
Special collocations: left arm Cricket a player who bowls with the left arm. left back in Football & Hockey etc., (the position of) a back who plays primarily on the left of the pitch. left bank: see BANK noun1 1. left bower: see BOWER noun5. left brain the left-hand side of the human brain, believed to be associated with linear and analytical thought. left-brained adjective having the left as the dominant or more efficient part of the brain. left centre in Football & Hockey etc., (the position of) a player who plays primarily to the left of the centre of the pitch. left defender in Football & Hockey etc., a left half who plays deep. left flank = LEFT WING noun phr. 2. left half(-back) in Football & Hockey etc., (the position of) a half-back who plays primarily on the left of the pitch. left midfield in Football & Hockey etc., the midfield players who play primarily on the left of the pitch. left turn a turn that brings a person's front to face as his or her left side did before; a turn or turning to the left.
Comb.: left-brained adjective having the left as the dominant or more efficient part of the brain (see left brain above); left-eye adjective having both eyes on the left-hand side of the head; spec. designating flatfish (flounders) of the family Bothidae; left-eyed adjective (a) having the left as the dominant or more efficient eye; (b) = left-eye above; left-footed adjective having the left as the dominant or more efficient foot; left-footer slang (derog.) a Roman Catholic.
b. adverb. On or towards the left side; in the direction of the left; (of rotary motion) anticlockwise. ME.
eyes left: see EYE noun. left, right, and centre, (also) right and left, right, left, and centre in all directions; on all sides; indiscriminately. stage left: see STAGE noun 4.
Birmingham Post It is just a case of looking left and right.
Comb.: left-leaning adjective sympathetic towards the left in politics.
C. noun.
The left-hand part, side, region, or direction. ME.
true left: see TRUE adjective, noun, & adverb.
G. Greene Rimmer moved a hand to the left, a hand to the right. F. Swinnerton Peters..who sat on her left, was as tongue-tied as Turnbull on her right.
Military. The left wing of an army. Also (in pl.), the soldiers whose place is on the left. E18.
Orig., those members of comparatively radical opinions in a Continental legislature, by custom seated on the left of the president. Now, (the views and aims of) any party or group favouring radical, reforming, or socialist views. Also, the more advanced or innovating section of a philosophical, religious, etc., group. M19.
New Left: see NEW adjective. Old Left: see OLD adjective.
T. Benn He moved..to the Left..arguing for world peace, human rights and civil liberties.
A shoe etc. for the left foot; a glove etc. for the left hand. M19.
A shot fired at game with the left barrel of a double-barrelled shotgun; a creature hit by such a shot. Earliest in right-and-left s.v. RIGHT noun1. M19.
Chiefly Boxing. (A blow dealt with) the left hand. M19.
G. F. Fiennes Out shot a telescopic left, and I had the shiner of all time for weeks.
Football & Hockey etc. (The position of) a player who plays primarily on the left side of the pitch. Chiefly in inside left, outside left. L19.
A left turn. L20.
hang a left: see HANG verb.
G. F. Sims Straight on is Fort Mason...We make a left on to Lombard.
? In most senses opp. right; in some also opp. centre.
leftish adjective inclined to the political, philosophical, etc., views of the left M20.
leftishness noun M20.
leftism noun the political, philosophical, etc., views or principles of the left; profession of left-wing views: E20.
leftist noun & adjective (a) noun an adherent of the left; a person who professes to be left-wing; (b) adjective of or pertaining to leftism or the left: E20.
leftmost adjective situated furthest to the left M19.
leftness noun the condition of being on the left M16.