left-handed

[ left-han-did ]
See synonyms for left-handed on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. having the left hand more dominant or effective than the right; preferably using the left hand: a left-handed pitcher.

  2. adapted to or performed by the left hand: a left-handed tool; a left-handed tennis serve.

  1. situated on the side of the left hand.

  2. Machinery.

    • rotating counterclockwise.

    • noting a helical or spiral member, as a gear tooth or screw thread, that twists counterclockwise as it recedes from an observer.

  3. Building Trades. left-hand (def. 3).

  4. ambiguous or doubtful and often unfavorable or derogatory by implication: a left-handed compliment.

  5. clumsy or awkward.

  6. of, relating to, or issuing from a morganatic marriage: so called from the custom, in morganatic marriage ceremonies, of having the bridegroom give his left hand to the bride.

adverb
  1. with the left hand: He writes left-handed.

  2. toward the left hand; in a counterclockwise direction: The strands of the rope are laid left-handed.

Origin of left-handed

1
Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; see origin at left1, handed

Other words from left-handed

  • left-hand·ed·ly, adverb
  • left-hand·ed·ness, noun

Words Nearby left-handed

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use left-handed in a sentence

  • The king he give me a left-handed look out of the corner of his eye, and so I knowed enough to talk on the right side.

    Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Complete | Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
  • Of course there might be left-handed piano players, but certainly all the fiddlers and all the conductors are right-handed.

    The Boy Grew Older | Heywood Broun
  • This thread is a left-handed thread and must be cut with the left dies.

    Elements of Plumbing | Samuel Dibble

British Dictionary definitions for left-handed

left-handed

adjective
  1. using the left hand with greater ease than the right

  2. performed with the left hand

  1. designed or adapted for use by the left hand

  2. worn on the left hand

  3. awkward or clumsy

  4. ironically ambiguous: a left-handed compliment

  5. turning from right to left; anticlockwise

  6. law another term for morganatic

adverb
  1. with the left hand

Derived forms of left-handed

  • left-handedly, adverb
  • left-handedness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012