right and left

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In or from all directions, on every side, as in Questions were coming right and left, or She was giving orders right and left. This idiom, first recorded in 1839, uses the directions right and left to signify all sides.

QUIZ

ARE YOU A TRUE BLUE CHAMPION OF THESE "BLUE" SYNONYMS?

We could talk until we're blue in the face about this quiz on words for the color "blue," but we think you should take the quiz and find out if you're a whiz at these colorful terms.

Question 1 of 8

Which of the following words describes “sky blue”?

navy

beryl

azure

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

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Words nearby right and left

Riggs' disease, right, rightable, rightabout, right about face, right and left, right angle, right-angled triangle, right ascension, right as rain, right atrioventricular valve

How to use right and left in a sentence

As an example of good science-and-society policymaking, the history of fluoride may be more of a cautionary tale.
Anti-Fluoriders Are The OG Anti-Vaxxers|Michael Schulson|July 27, 2016|DAILY BEAST
Not to be left behind, progressives in neighboring Wisconsin clamored to join the cutting edge of public health.
Anti-Fluoriders Are The OG Anti-Vaxxers|Michael Schulson|July 27, 2016|DAILY BEAST
I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.
The Muslim Cop Killed by Terrorists|Michael Daly|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Everywhere I go, ‘Hey Cartman, you must like Family Guy, right?’
Trolls and Martyrdom: Je Ne Suis Pas Charlie|Arthur Chu|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST

As this list shows, punishments typically run to a short-ish jail sentence and/or a moderately hefty fine.
In Defense of Blasphemy|Michael Tomasky|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
What 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. Locke
Mrs. Wurzel was quite right; they had been supplied, regardless of cost, from Messrs. Rochet and Stole's well-known establishment.
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume I (of 3)|Charles James Wills
She is quite true, but not wise, and your left hand must not know what your right hand is doing.
Checkmate|Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
The vision—it had been an instantaneous flash after all and nothing more—had left his mind completely for the time.
The Wave|Algernon Blackwood
She 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 Munsell