southpaw
Americannoun
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a person who is left-handed.
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Sports.
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a player who throws with the left hand, especially a pitcher.
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Boxing. a boxer who leads with the right hand and stands with the right foot forward, using the left hand for the most powerful blows.
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adjective
noun
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a boxer who leads with his right hand and off his right foot as opposed to the orthodox style of leading with the left
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any left-handed person
adjective
Usage
What does southpaw mean? A southpaw is a left-handed person, especially a boxer or baseball pitcher. It is also an adjective meaning “left-handed.”What are other words are related to southpaw:
- pitcher
- boxing
- baseball
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of southpaw
Explanation
If you're left-handed, you can call yourself a southpaw. If you're also a baseball fan, you may admire southpaws like the famous left-handed pitcher Sandy Koufax. The slightly old-fashioned term southpaw may have started in the 1880s as baseball slang for left-handed pitchers. Legend has it that a Chicago sports writer coined the term, based on the now-obsolete tradition of laying out baseball diamonds with home plate toward the west. Others attribute southpaw to boxing slang, for "left-handed punch." Whatever the origin, it's a colorful way to describe any lefty.
Vocabulary lists containing southpaw
Idioms and Expressions, List 1
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
But Fury quickly found rhythm, picking apart Makhmudov's high guard and limited movement with counters, switching between southpaw and orthodox.
From BBC ● Apr. 11, 2026
The diminutive southpaw came out of retirement last year.
From Barron's ● Feb. 23, 2026
Some will say players should not be involved, that it’s a management decision high above the pay grade of the average southpaw or slugger.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 6, 2026
But Benavidez began landing combinations to the head and body with the speed of a lightweight, switching between southpaw and orthodox at will.
From BBC ● Nov. 22, 2025
The one who’d taught me how to pitch, and me a southpaw.
From "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson
Australia have two left-handed openers in Head and Weatherald and Stokes has the best average against southpaws of all of the England quicks still standing.
From BBC ● Jan. 5, 2026
Manager Dave Martinez said he sat the left-handed-hitting García to give him rest but also because he wanted him to work on his approach against southpaws.
From Washington Post ● May 2, 2023
The only problem: Thompson had puzzlingly struggled against southpaws in 2022, posting a .621 OPS that was almost half his mark in right-on-right matchups.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 2, 2023
Pollock has historically destroyed left-handed pitching; Kelenic has been completely overmatched against southpaws.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 17, 2023
Pat lived up to most of Peter's theories about southpaws.
From The Boy Grew Older by Broun, Heywood
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
