Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
adjective
- having the left hand more dominant or effective than the right; preferably using the left hand: a left-handed pitcher.
- adapted to or performed by the left hand: a left-handed tool; a left-handed tennis serve.
- situated on the side of the left hand.
- Machinery.
- rotating counterclockwise.
- noting a helical or spiral member, as a gear tooth or screw thread, that twists counterclockwise as it recedes from an observer.
- Building Trades. left-hand(def 3).
- ambiguous or doubtful and often unfavorable or derogatory by implication: a left-handed compliment.
- clumsy or awkward.
- of, relating to, or issuing from a morganatic marriage: so called from the custom, in morganatic marriage ceremonies, of having the bridegroom give his left hand to the bride.
adverb
- with the left hand: He writes left-handed.
- toward the left hand; in a counterclockwise direction: The strands of the rope are laid left-handed.
adjective
- using the left hand with greater ease than the right
- performed with the left hand
- designed or adapted for use by the left hand
- worn on the left hand
- awkward or clumsy
- ironically ambiguousa left-handed compliment
- turning from right to left; anticlockwise
- law another term for morganatic
adverb
- with the left hand
adj.late 14c., of persons; 1650s of tools, etc., from left (adj.) + handed. In 15c. it also could mean “maimed.” Sense of “underhanded” is from early 17c., as in left-handed compliment (1787, also attested 1855 in pugilism slang for “a punch with the left fist”), as is that of “illicit” (e.g. left-handed marriage). Related: Left-handedly; left-handedness. adj.
- Using the left hand more skillfully or easily than the right.