left

¹

[left]

adjective

1. being, relating to, or located on or nearest to the side where a person’s heart normally is (right ).

   Dan was ahead of me and on the left side of the street.

   I have arthritis in my left knee.

2. Often Left of or belonging to the political Left; having liberal or radical views in politics.

3. Mathematics.,  pertaining to an element of a set that has a given property when written on the left of an element or set of elements of the set.

   a left identity, as 1 in 1 ⋅ x = x.

noun

1. the left side or something that is on the left side; the direction toward that side.

   The laundry room is the first door on your left.

   Move the picture about a foot to the left so it’s centered above the sofa.

2. a turn toward the left.

   Make a left at the next corner.

3. none the left or the Left

   1. the complex of individuals or organized groups advocating liberal reform or revolutionary change in the social, political, or economic order.

   2. the position held by these people.

   3. left wing.

4. Government.,  Usually Left

   1. the part of a legislative assembly, especially in continental Europe, that is situated on the left side of the presiding officer and that is customarily assigned to members of the legislature who hold more radical and socialistic views than the rest of the members.

   2. the members of such an assembly who sit on the left.

5. Boxing.,  a blow delivered by the left hand.

6. Baseball.,  left field.

adverb

1. toward the left.

   She moved left on entering the room.

left

²

[left]

verb

1. simple past tense and past participle of leave.

left

¹

/ lɛft /

adjective

1. (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. (sometimes capital) of or relating to the political or intellectual left

4. (sometimes capital) radical or progressive, esp as compared to less radical or progressive groups, persons, etc

adverb

1. on or in the direction of the left

noun

1. a left side, direction, position, area, or part

2. (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

3. radical in the methods, principles, etc, employed in striving to achieve such change

4. boxing

   1. a blow with the left hand

   2. the left hand

left

²

/ lɛft /

verb

1. the past tense and past participle of leave 1

Word History and Origins

Origin of left¹

First recorded in 1125–75; 1935–40 left ¹ for def. 6; Middle English left, lift, luft, Old English left “idle, weak, useless,” Kentish form of lyft- (in lyftādl “palsy”); cognate with Dutch, Low German lucht; akin to Middle English libbe (modern dialect lib ) “to castrate,” cognate with Dutch, Low German lubben

Word History and Origins

Origin of left¹

Old English left idle, weak, variant of lyft- (in lyftādl palsy, literally: left-disease); related to Middle Dutch lucht left

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. get left,

   1. to be left stranded.

   2. to miss an opportunity, objective, etc.

More idioms and phrases containing left

• hang a left
• out in left field
• right and left
• take up where one left off
• two left feet

Example Sentences

It’s left to the cast to do the best sales job with this underdeveloped material.

From Los Angeles Times

As they left, colleagues wept and supported each other as they tried to make sense of what had happened.

From BBC

Gisele has also drawn significant interest in Europe and now that her sister and roommate has left Angel City, she has even more reason to leave.

From Los Angeles Times

Newspaper circulation is dwindling, and papers are folding left and right.

From Salon

There’s a new battleground in the ongoing internal Democratic Party conflict between the progressive left and the party’s pro-Israel mainstream.

From Salon

Related Words

• leftist 
• liberal