left
1being, relating to, or located on or nearest to the side where a person’s heart normally is (opposed to right): Dan was ahead of me and on the left side of the street. I have arthritis in my left knee.
Often Left . of or belonging to the political Left; having liberal or radical views in politics.
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.
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.
a turn toward the left: Make a left at the next corner.
the left or the Left .
the complex of individuals or organized groups advocating liberal reform or revolutionary change in the social, political, or economic order.: Compare right (def. 33a).
the position held by these people.: Compare right (def. 33b).
left wing. : Compare right wing.
Usually Left .Government.
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.
the members of such an assembly who sit on the left.
Boxing. a blow delivered by the left hand.
Baseball. left field (def. 1).
toward the left: She moved left on entering the room.
Origin of left
1Words Nearby left
Other definitions for left (2 of 2)
simple past tense and past participle of leave1.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use left in a sentence
You can see your customers on the left, click on them to load the chat window and then respond to their chats.
Google My Business adds messaging to desktop interface | Barry Schwartz | February 11, 2021 | Search Engine LandIn the minutes before the Sikorsky helicopter carrying Kobe Bryant and seven other passengers crashed in Calabasas, California, its pilot made a left turn.
This surprisingly common flight issue contributed to Kobe Bryant’s helicopter crash | Rob Verger | February 11, 2021 | Popular-ScienceMoler calculated that Zobayan could have felt as though he was climbing to the right, not diving to the left.
Noting that a member of Congress died after contracting the virus then becomes simply a left-wing smear.
What you’re saying when you say that covering the coronavirus is partisan | Philip Bump | February 9, 2021 | Washington PostMoving forward, we can’t have a vacuum of radicals on the left or the right.
Republican Rep. Nancy Mace on the Capitol insurrection: ‘We need to rebuild our party’ | KK Ottesen | February 9, 2021 | Washington Post
Not to be left behind, progressives in neighboring Wisconsin clamored to join the cutting edge of public health.
Gay marriage was the hot-button fight on the left and right.
Clad in a blue, striped button-down, a silver watch adorning his left wrist, Huckabee beams on the cover.
Huckabee 2016: Bend Over and Take It Like a Prisoner! | Olivia Nuzzi | January 8, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTMeanwhile, almost exactly 30 years after the trial, the judge left his home to board a steamboat and was never heard from again.
New York’s Most Tragic Ghost Loves Minimalist Swedish Fashion | Nina Strochlic | January 8, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTMorris searched for whatever strength was left in his malnourished body.
Powerful Congressman Writes About ‘Fleshy Breasts’ | Asawin Suebsaeng | January 7, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTWhat need to look to right or left when you are swallowing up free mile after mile of dizzying road?
The Joyous Adventures of Aristide Pujol | William J. LockeShe is quite true, but not wise, and your left hand must not know what your right hand is doing.
Checkmate | Joseph Sheridan Le FanuThe vision—it had been an instantaneous flash after all and nothing more—had left his mind completely for the time.
The Wave | Algernon BlackwoodShe had just left the wharf at Cincinnati for Louisville, with 225 passengers on board, of whom but 124 were saved.
The Every Day Book of History and Chronology | Joel MunsellThus was the man left entirely to the devil, not even his life being reserved, as in the case of Job.
Solomon and Solomonic Literature | Moncure Daniel Conway
British Dictionary definitions for left (1 of 2)
/ (lɛft) /
(usually prenominal) of or designating the side of something or someone that faces west when the front is turned towards the north
(usually prenominal) worn on a left hand, foot, etc
(sometimes capital) of or relating to the political or intellectual left
(sometimes capital) radical or progressive, esp as compared to less radical or progressive groups, persons, etc
on or in the direction of the left
a left side, direction, position, area, or part: Related adjectives: sinister, sinistral
(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
to the left radical in the methods, principles, etc, employed in striving to achieve such change
boxing
a blow with the left hand
the left hand
Origin of left
1British Dictionary definitions for left (2 of 2)
/ (lɛft) /
the past tense and past participle of leave 1
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
Other Idioms and Phrases with left
In addition to the idioms beginning with left
- left field
- left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing, the
- left wing
also see:
- hang a left
- out in left field
- right and left
- take up where one left off
- two left feet
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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