leftover

American  

[left-oh-ver] / ˈlɛftˌoʊ vər /

noun

1. Usually leftovers. food remaining uneaten at the end of a meal, especially when saved for later use.

2. anything left or remaining from a larger amount; remainder.

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adjective

1. being left or remaining, as an unused portion or amount.

   leftover meatloaf.

   Synonyms:

   extra, excess, surplus

leftover British  

/ ˈlɛftˌəʊvə /

noun

1. (often plural) an unused portion or remnant, as of material or of cooked food

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adjective

1. left as an unused portion or remnant

Etymology

Origin of leftover

1890–95; noun use of verb phrase left over; left ²

Example Sentences

He looked around the studio and saw leftover props, unused real estate, and the creatives and characters who made movies and television.

From The Wall Street Journal

Pulsars are the dense, rapidly spinning leftovers of massive stars that exploded long ago.

From Science Daily

He is seen as the most hard-line of the regime’s leftover leaders.

From The Wall Street Journal

A nova happens in a close binary system when a white dwarf, the dense leftover core of a star, pulls gas from a nearby companion.

From Science Daily

But I do remember that we ended up at my parents’ house later that night, devoured the deli leftovers from their party and laughed ourselves silly as a way to welcome the new year.

From MarketWatch

Related Words

• extra
• residual
• unused