lefty

or left·ie

[lef-tee]

noun, plural left·ies. Informal.

a left-handed person.

a leftist.

Origin of lefty

First recorded in 1925–30; left¹ + -y²

lefty

[lef-tee]Informal.

adjective

left-handed.

leftist; left-wing.

adverb

with the left hand; in a left-handed manner: He bats lefty.

Origin of lefty

First recorded in 1885–90; left¹ + -y¹

Grove

[grohv]

noun

Sir George,1820–1900, English musicologist.

Robert MosesLefty, 1900–75, U.S. baseball player.

Carlton

[kahrl-tuh n]

noun

Stephen NormanSteveLefty, born 1944, U.S. baseball player.

a male given name.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for lefty

Contemporary Examples of lefty

One lefty tweeter even complained that an invasion of icky American tourists would undermine “family values” in Cuba.
Castro's Hipster Apologists Want to Keep Cuba ‘Authentically’ Poor
Michael Moynihan
December 18, 2014
Malloy, meanwhile, in his first term as governor of Connecticut, has delivered on a wish list of lefty priorities.
Dan Malloy Is Progressives’ Dream Governor. So Why Isn’t He Winning?
David Freedlander
October 30, 2014
As lefty publications such as Mother Jones love to point out, “Most Red States Take More Money from Washington Than They Put In.”
After Cochran’s Win: Red-State Socialism Must Be Stopped!
Nick Gillespie
June 27, 2014
When he says that,” Lefty Wilson, the trainer, said, “he's liable to get three goals.
Gordie Howe Hockey’s Greatest War Horse
W.C. Heinz
May 31, 2014
Lefty pinko Center for Constitutional Rights embraces the Constitution—says it means government righting wrongs.
P.J. O’Rourke: Who Really Actually Wants This Bill of Rights?
P. J. O’Rourke
April 12, 2014

Historical Examples of lefty

Lefty threw the unused part of the deck to the center of the table.
Card Trick
Walter Bupp AKA Randall Garrett
Down in Texas you could get shot for a crack like that, Lefty!
Card Trick
Walter Bupp AKA Randall Garrett
Lefty is a cheap grandstander, and I'll settle with him myself.
Card Trick
Walter Bupp AKA Randall Garrett
Lefty was all guts now that I was hung up on the gun barrel.
Card Trick
Walter Bupp AKA Randall Garrett
"Why, this Lodge," Lefty said, waving a hand around loosely.
Card Trick
Walter Bupp AKA Randall Garrett

British Dictionary definitions for lefty

lefty

noun plural lefties informal

a left-winger

mainly US and Canadian a left-handed person

Carlton

noun

a town in N central England, in S Nottinghamshire. Pop: 48 493 (2001)

grove

noun

a small wooded area or plantation

a road lined with houses and often trees, esp in a suburban area
(capital as part of a street name)Ladbroke Grove

Word Origin for grove

Old English grāf; related to grǣfa thicket, greave, Norwegian greivla to intertwine

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

Word Origin and History for lefty

"left-handed person," 1886, American English, baseball slang, from left + -y (3). Political sense by 1935.

grove

Old English graf "grove, copse" (akin to græafa "thicket"), from Proto-Germanic *graibo-, but not certainly found in other Germanic languages and with no known cognates anywhere else.