southpaw

[ south-paw ]
See synonyms for southpaw on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a person who is left-handed.

  2. Sports.

    • a player who throws with the left hand, especially a pitcher.

    • Boxing. a boxer who leads with the right hand and stands with the right foot forward, using the left hand for the most powerful blows.

adjective

Origin of southpaw

1
An Americanism dating back to 1880–85; south + paw1

Words Nearby southpaw

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

How to use southpaw in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for southpaw

southpaw

/ (ˈsaʊθˌpɔː) informal /


noun
  1. a boxer who leads with his right hand and off his right foot as opposed to the orthodox style of leading with the left

  2. any left-handed person

adjective
  1. of or relating to a southpaw

Origin of southpaw

1
C20: from paw (in the sense: hand): originally a term applied to a left-handed baseball player: perhaps so called because baseball pitchers traditionally face west, so that a left-handed pitcher would throw with the hand on the south side of his body

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