left 1
(lĕft)adj.1. a. Of, belonging to, located on, or being the side of the body to the north when the subject is facing east.
b. Of, relating to, directed toward, or located on the left side.
c. Located on the left side of a person facing downstream: the left bank of a river.
2. often Left Of or belonging to the political or intellectual left.
n.1. a. The direction or position on the left side.
b. The left side.
c. The left hand.
d. A turn in the direction of the left hand or side.
2. often
Lefta. The people and groups who advocate liberal, often radical measures to effect change in the established order, especially in politics, with the goal of achieving the equality, freedom, and well-being of the common citizens of a state. Also called left wing.
b. The opinion of those advocating such measures.
3. Sports A blow delivered by a boxer's left hand.
4. Baseball Left field.
adv. Toward or on the left.
[Middle English, from Old English lyft-, weak, useless (in lyftādl, paralysis). N., sense 2, from the fact that liberals often sit on the left side of the legislative chamber in various assemblies .]
left 2
(lĕft)v.Past tense and past participle of
leave1.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
left
(lɛft) adj1. (usually prenominal) of or designating the side of something or someone that faces west when the front is turned towards the north
2. (usually prenominal) worn on a left hand, foot, etc
3. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) (sometimes capital) of or relating to the political or intellectual left
4. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) (sometimes capital) radical or progressive, esp as compared to less radical or progressive groups, persons, etc
advon or in the direction of the left
n5. a left side, direction, position, area, or part.
6. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) (often capital) the supporters or advocates of varying degrees of social, political, or economic change, reform, or revolution designed to promote the greater freedom, power, welfare, or comfort of the common people
7. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) to the left radical in the methods, principles, etc, employed in striving to achieve such change
8. (Boxing)
boxing a. a blow with the left hand
b. the left hand
[Old English left idle, weak, variant of lyft- (in lyftādl palsy, literally: left-disease); related to Middle Dutch lucht left]
left
(lɛft) vb the past tense and past participle of
leave1 Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
left1
(lɛft)
adj. 1. of, pertaining to, or located on or near the side of a person or thing that is turned toward the west when the subject is facing north (opposed to
right).
2. (often cap.) of or belonging to the political Left; having liberal or radical views in politics.
n. 3. the left side, or something that is on the left side.
4. a turn toward the left: Make a left at the next corner.
5. the Left, a. those individuals or organized groups advocating liberal reform or revolutionary change in the social, political, or economic order.
b. the liberal position held by these people.
6. (
usu. cap.)
a. the part of a legislative assembly, esp. in continental Europe, that is situated to the left of the presiding officer.
b. the more liberal members of such an assembly, who customarily sit in this part.
8. a boxing blow delivered by the left hand.
adv. 9. toward the left.
[1125–75; Middle English left, lift, luft, Old English left idle, weak, c. Middle Dutch, Low German lucht(er), luft]
left2
(lɛft)
v. Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
Left
motion or a tendency to move to the left, as the motion of the eye.
rotation toward the left; counterclockwise rotation, a characteristic of the plane of polarization of light. — levorotatory, adj.
the state or process of turning to the left.
the state or quality of being left-handed or oriented towards the left in other ways, as a shell with counterclockwise spirals. Also sinistration. — sinistral, adj.
levorotation. Also called levogyration. — sinistrogyric, adj.
-Ologies & -Isms. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
left
The people or parties who support social and political reform with a view to improving the condition or increasing the power of the common people.
Dictionary of Unfamiliar Words by Diagram Group Copyright © 2008 by Diagram Visual Information Limited