leftover

[left-oh-ver]

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.

adjective

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

   leftover meatloaf.

   Synonyms: extra, excess, surplus

leftover

/ ˈlɛftˌəʊvə /

noun

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

adjective

1. left as an unused portion or remnant

Word History and Origins

Origin of leftover¹

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

Example Sentences

With costs in NYC higher than ever, having a way to store leftovers and warm up food in between restaurant reservations is a huge boon in my book.

Read more on Salon

She and her younger siblings regularly set out with their mother to the nearby railroad tracks, where they harvested leftover lumps of coal to fuel their pot-bellied stove — the apartment’s sole source of heat.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The family chef knows not to throw out leftovers when she’s around; having gone hungry as a child, she can’t bear to waste food.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Next to the sculpture are barrels of toxic "slag" leftover from the melting process.

Read more on BBC

The work suggests that materials with a potassium-40 deficit are likely leftover original material from the proto Earth.

Read more on Science Daily

Related Words

• extra 
• residual 
• unused