▪ I. left, a., adv., and n.
(lɛft)
Forms: 2–4 luft, 3 leoft, 3–5 lift(e, 4–5 lyft(e, 4–6 lefte, 4– left.
[ME. left, lift:—OE. left (Kentish), lyft, occurring only in the gloss ‘inanis, left’ (Mone Q. & F. I. 443), and in the comb. lyft-ádl paralysis; the primary sense ‘weak, worthless’ is represented also in East Fris. luf, Du. dial. loof, and the derived sense ‘left’ (hand) in MDu., LG. luchter, lucht, luft, North Fris. leeft, leefter.
Cf. further (though connexion is very doubtful) OE. léf weak, léfung paralysis, ᵹeléfed weak, old, OFris., OS. lêf weak, OS. gilêƀod lamed.]
A. adj.
1. a. The distinctive epithet of the hand which is normally the weaker of the two (for examples see left hand), and of the other parts on the same side of the human body (occas. of their clothing, as in left boot, glove, sleeve); hence also of what pertains to the corresponding side of any other body or object. Opposed to right. Phr. two left feet: signifying a clumsy person.
| c 1205 Lay. 27693 [He] smat Leir þene eorl sære a þa lift side þurh ut þa heorte. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 981 Hit watz lusty lothes wyf þat [looked] ouer her lyfte schulder. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 818 Þe lefte eghe of hym þan semes les And narower þan þe right eghe es. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. iv. 75 Let nat þy lyft half, oure lord techeþ, Ywite what þow delest with þy ryht syde. c 1449 Pecock Repr. 530 Thei baren scrowis in her forehedis and in her lift arme. 1559 W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 27 Orions left foote. 1667 Milton P.L. viii. 465 Who stooping op'nd my left side, and took From thence a Rib. 1709 Steele Tatler No. 127 ¶1 With his Hat under his Left Arm. 1833 Regul. Instr. Cavalry i. 13 Place the right heel against the hollow of the left foot. 1895 Punch CVIII. 49/1 The peculiar striping of his [a tiger's] left shoulder. 1915 Wodehouse Psmith Journalist xviii. 132 Mr. Dawson..gave it as his opinion that one of the lady dancers had two left feet. 1959 E. L. Mascall Pi in the High 7 Or dance with two left feet the valse triste. 1975 D. Ramsay Descent into Dark iii. 92 Clumsy..you've got two left feet. |
b. left side,
† left half (also
left hand), used (with a preceding
prep.) for: The position or direction (relative to a person) to which the left hand points.
| a 1175 Lamb. Hom. 141 Þer stod a richt halue and a luft alse an castel wal. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 67 He setteð þe synfulle on his lifthalf. 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 698 Alle þe iles of Anglesay on lyft half he haldez. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. ii. 7 ‘Loke on þe lufthond’, quod heo..I lokede on þe luft half as þe ladi me tauhte. c 1400 Mandeville (1839) iv. 31 On the lift syde of the hille Carmelyn is a towne. 1474 Caxton Chesse 16 She shold sitte on the lift side of the kyng. |
c. left jabber, a boxer whose characteristic punch is the left jab.
| 1950 [see cross n. 22 d]. |
2. † a. In various obsolete proverbial expressions,
e.g. to see with the left eye,
to work with the left hand, implying inefficiency in performance;
to take a thing by the left ear (
cf. quot. a 1684).
† b. to go over the left shoulder: to be squandered.
c. over the left shoulder, now
over the left simply, a slang phrase implying that the words to which it is appended express the reverse of what is really meant.
| c 1450 tr. De Imitatione iii. xliii. 114 Þat beholden þinges transitory wiþ þe lifte eye ande hevenly þinges wiþ þe riȝt eye. 1650 B. Discolliminium 14 Some of our new Architectors, have read some Authors about alterations of States with their left eyes, which makes them work with their left hands, so sinisterly. a 1684 Leighton Comm. 1 Pet. ii. i. (1693) 225 Taking all things by the left Ear; for (as Epictetus says) Every thing hath two handles. 1705 Rec. Hartford County Court (U.S.) 4 Sept. in Newcastle Daily Jrnl. 28 July 1891, The said Waters, as he departed from the table, he said, ‘God bless you over the left shoulder’. 1748 Richardson Clarissa I. 218 With t'other, perhaps, you'll have an account to keep, too; But an account of what will go over the left shoulder; only of what he squanders, what he borrows, and what he owes, and never will pay. 1837 Dickens Pickw. xlii, Each gentleman pointed with his right thumb over his left shoulder. This action, imperfectly described in words by the very feeble expression of ‘over the left’..its expression is one of light and playful sarcasm. 1843 W. T. Moncrieff Scamps Lond. i. i, I think she will come. Ned. Yes, over the left—ha, ha, ha! 1852 R. S. Surtees Sponge's Sp. Tour (1893) 137 ‘All over the left’, said Frosty..‘He's come gammonin' down here that he's a great man..but it's all my eye’. |
3. a. That has the relative position of the left hand with respect to the right. (Sometimes said with reference to the appearance to a spectator, and sometimes with reference to the direction in which the object is considered to face.) In predicative use with
const. of; in attributive use now chiefly replaced by left-hand,
exc. in certain special collocations, as
left wing (of an army),
left branch (of a stream).
left bank (of a river): that to the left of a person looking down the stream; applied
spec. to a part of Paris lying south of the Seine noted for its ‘advanced’ intellectual views;
= Latin Quarter (
Latin n. 5); also
attrib.; hence
left-bankish adj.| c 1400 Mandeville (1839) xi. 128 Uppon the lyfte way, men goon fyrst un to Damas, by Flome Iordane. 1838 Thirlwall Greece IV. xxxiii. 319 They then proceeded along the left bank of the Tigris. 1845 M. Pattison Ess. (1889) I. 28 A prison..the ruins of which long after, remained on the left bank of the Seine. 1882 Cussans Her. (ed. 3) 45 That part of the shield which appears on the left side is called the dexter. a 1902 Mod. The greater part of the town is left of the railway. |
| 1893 H. S. Edwards Old & New Paris i. iii. 10/1 On the ‘left bank’, ..stand the Institute, the Pantheon, [etc.]. 1911 W. J. Locke Glory of Clementina Wing ix. 129 Paris of the Left Bank, of the studios, of struggle and toil. 1929 E. Wilson I thought of Daisy iv. 243 She was staying..in a little Left Bank hotel. 1932 ‘F. Iles’ Before the Fact ii. 42 Some unpretentious little restaurant on the left bank. 1943 D. Gascoyne Poems 1937–42 45 In a Left⁓bank café. 1949 Oxf. Jun. Encycl. III. 335/1 The streets..on the left bank are noted for the numerous book-stalls. 1952 A. Wilson Hemlock & After ii. iii. 168 She had carefully preserved her Left Bank student get-up for this bourgeois gathering. 1958 Times Lit. Suppl. 14 Feb. 85/1 The intense form of Angst that one associates..with French intellectualism is not confined to the Left Bank. 1958 Manch. Guardian 27 Feb. 7/6 The highly complicated ‘left-bankish’ and somehow heartless fairy story which it tells in its three acts grows no more likeable with renewed acquaintance. 1964 Economist 2 May 478/1 Mr Gomulka strongly criticised their ‘left-bank’ attitudes. 1974 ‘S. Harvester’ Forgotten Road vi. 72 Their meal took on a sort of Chelsea or Greenwich Village or Left Bank atmosphere. |
b. In politics:
cf. left n. 2 c and
left wing;
left-leaning a., sympathetic towards the left in politics. For
left centre see
centre n. 15.
| 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. I. vi. ii. 308 The Left side [of the Assembly] is also called the d'Orleans side. 1919 T. E. Lawrence Let. 27 Sept. (1938) 293 So long as we are the more liberal (‘left’ in the Parliamentary sense) we call the tune... Our remedy and safeguard will be to trend continually ‘left’. 1953 M. Lowry Sel. Lett. (1967) 330, I am even ‘left’ of de Voto on the subject. 1957 J. Osborne Entertainer viii. 62 A chap at my school..managed to get himself in to the Labour Government, and they always said he was left of centre. 1961 Times 23 Jan. 13/6 The left-leaning Captain Kong Lae was, moreover, partly educated in Siam. 1962 J. Braine Life at Top x. 135, I asked the Warden who Graffham was. ‘He's very Left,’ the Warden said. 1962 Listener 19 July 87/1 A left-of-centre party not unlike the British Labour Party. 1964 Gould & Kolb Dict. Social Sci. 383/2 The word left was used in England from the 1920s onwards,..sometimes covering Communists and Socialists and sometimes Liberals as well. 1966 T. Pynchon Crying of Lot 49 iii. 50 Peter Pinguid was really our first casualty. Not the fanatic our more left-leaning friends..chose to martyrize. 1972 Times 4 Aug. 13/4 The constitution of..the Donovan Commission, was on any showing a fair way left of centre. |
c. Further special collocations: (in sport)
left arm,
left-armer,
left back,
left half (-back). Also
left field (Baseball): the part of the outfield to the left of the batter as he faces the pitcher; also, a fielder in this position; also
fig., a position away from the centre of activity or interest;
left fielder: a fielder in the left field; also
fig.| 1955 Times 9 May 15/1 Goddard opened the bowling with him, left arm over the wicket at a gentle medium pace. Ibid. 10 June 4/2 Splendid bowling by Hampshire's young, left-arm bowler Sainsbury, whose seven wickets for 25 runs was the best performance of his career. 1974 Times 11 Nov. 8/2 Titmus chopped Bright's orthodox left-arm spin into his stumps. |
| 1960 E. W. Swanton W. Indies Revisited 277 New bowling talent will have to be unearthed, for instance..a slow left⁓armer. |
| 1897 Encycl. Sport I. 419/2 [Assoc. Football] The left back and half-back deal with the opposing right wing. 1955 Times 9 May 14/3 Eckersley, the Blackburn Rovers left-back, who has not played for England since November, 1953, has been selected to accompany the Football Association party. 1960 B. Liddell My Soccer Story xvi. 98 The tragedy of Munich robbed England of one of her finest post-war left-backs in Roger Byrne. 1974 Guardian 18 May 19/2 Willie Ormond, the Scotland manager, has..kept Danny McGrain..at left-back. |
| 1857 Spirit of Times 29 Aug. 404/3 Enterprise Club. Maxfield, catcher;..Webber, left field. 1867 H. Chadwick Base Ball Player's Bk. Reference 51 A ball similarly hit to the right or left fields. 1896 Knowles & Morton Baseball 77 Harry Athol..played left field for the Thespians in all their games. 1949 Minot (N. Dakota) Daily News 22 July 8/8 Marinari spoiled Lettau's chance for a no-hitter, lining a solid single to left field in the fifth frame. 1961 Amer. Speech XXXVI. 147 Out in left field, disoriented, out of contact with reality. 1970 Time 9 Mar. 19 An increasing number of candidates are emerging from leftfield to give voters surprising options. 1974 Publishers Weekly 11 Mar. 48/3 Novak's use of religious metaphor may put him in left field (Reinhold Niebuhr was there before him). |
| 1867 H. Chadwick Base Ball Player's Bk. Reference 70 Suppose the left-fielder should be the third striker on the list. 1957 Encycl. Brit. III. 160/2 The outfielders are called right fielder, centre fielder and left fielder with relation to a man standing on home plate and facing out across the diamond. 1973 Publishers Weekly 29 Jan. 259/1 Sober, necktie-wearing citizens will get a bang out of the book, left-fielders not at all. |
| 1897 Encycl. Sport I. 418/2 [Assoc. Football] Three half-backs are played nowadays... They are called..the right, centre and left half-back. 1914 London Opinion 19 Sept. 445/1 A ‘rising young left-half’ for Sludberry Rangers. 1960 B. Liddell My Soccer Story vi. 40 Bobby Paisley was at left-half. |
4. Comb.: parasynthetic, chiefly in sense ‘having the left limb more efficient than the right’; as
left-eyed (hence
left-eyedness),
left-footed (hence
left-footedness),
left-legged (hence
left-leggedness); also
left-sided,
left-witted (see
quots.).
left-brained, having the left-hand side of the brain as the dominant half;
left-footer slang, a Roman Catholic. Also
left-handed.
| 1890 W. James Princ. Psychol. I. ii. 39 Most people..are *left-brained, that is, all their delicate and specialized movements are handed over to the charge of the left hemisphere. 1902 Daily Chron. 22 May 3/4 Each half [of the cerebrum] governs the opposite side of the body, and..as we are right-handed, so we may be called left⁓brained. |
| 1622 Massinger Virg. Mart. iv. ii, I wud not giue vp the cloake of your seruice to meet the splay-foot estate of any *leftey'd knight aboue the Antipodes, because they are vnlucky to meete. 1900 Westm. Gaz. 20 Jan. 5/2 [In rifle-shooting] a left-eyed man can easily fire from his left shoulder. |
| 1937 S. T. Orton Reading, Writing & Speech Probl. in Children i. 52 A boy found..difficulty in using the rifle because of his right-handedness and *left-eyedness. |
| 1891 Sir D. Wilson Right Hand 169, I am myself *left-footed. |
| Ibid., Right and *left-footedness prevailed about equally. |
| 1944 J. H. Fullarton Troop Target 26 ‘What about the R.C.s?’ ‘Oh, yes. Leave the *left-footers behind as gun-picquets.’ 1959 I. & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolch. xvi. 344 In Lancashire Roman Catholics are known as ‘Micks’, and in Dundee as ‘Left⁓footers’. |
| 1964 M. Critchley Developmental Dyslexia viii. 51 Others attached less importance to the role of *left-handedness than to left-eyedness. |
| 1728 Pope Dunc. ii. 68 Bernard..*left-legg'd Jacob seems to emulate. 1829 Marryat F. Mildmay xvi, He was left-legged as well as left-handed. |
| 1890 W. K. Sibley in 19th Cent. May 773 (art.), *Left-leggedness. |
| 1880 Barwell Aneurism 84 The *left-sided destination of fibrinous concreta. |
| 1616 B. Jonson Horace's Art of Poetry 389 O I *left-witted [A. P. 301 o ego lævus], that purge every spring For choller! |
B. adv. On or towards the left side.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 21639 Ouer and vnder, right and left, In þis compas godd all has left. 1796–7 Instr. & Reg. Cavalry (1813) 228 Squadrons—left wheel! 1832 Prop. Regul. Instr. Cavalry ii. 35 Rear Divisions left incline. 1833 Regul. Instr. Cavalry i. 125 Draw back the body and ‘Left Parry’. 1884 Times 3 Mar. 5/3 ‘Troops, left about’, was sounded immediately. 1885 R. Bridges Eros & Psyche, March 23 She.. Lookt left and right to rise and set of day. 1886 Manch. Exam. 14 Jan. 5/6 Mr. Gladstone was supported right and left by Lord H. and Sir W. H. 1918 Daily Chron. 2 Dec., In Kiel, where the revolution started, matters appear to be going ‘left’ with a vengeance. |
C. n. † 1. A mean, worthless person.
Obs.| 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. iv. 62 Conscience hym tolde Þat wronge was a wikked luft. c 1425 Seven Sag. (P.) 1284 His wyf, that cursyd lyfte, Brewed the childys deth that nyght. |
2. a. = left hand. Often in
advb. phrases referring to relative position or direction (
cf. A. 1 b), where it is now apprehended as merely
absol. of the
adj. Also, a blow dealt with the left hand.
| a 1240 Sawles Warde in Cott. Hom. 257 Þe middel sti bituhhe riht and luft. a 1300 Cursor M. 2463 Queder þou ches, on right or left, I sal ta me þat þou haues left. 1667 Milton P.L. vi. 558 Vangard to Right and Left the Front unfould. 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. v. 73 If the Shot graze to the right or left. 1697 Dryden æneid ix. 864 Jove..thunder'd on the left. 1842 Tennyson Vision of Sin 138 In her right a civic wreath, In her left a human head. 1855 ― Charge Light Brig. iii, Cannon to right of them, Cannon to left of them,..Volley'd and thunder'd. 1859 Field Exerc. Infantry 35 A squad will be formed to the front, left, or left about, on the same principle. 1897 Encycl. Sport I. 136 (heading) Stop for lead-off at body with the left. 1898 Daily News 24 Nov. 7/3 Corbett kept trying to push his left in Sharkey's face. 1912 Chambers's Jrnl. 394/2 Out went Reid's murderous ‘left’ to our unutterable surprise, and down went the man on the platform. 1914 J. H. & A. Lambert Boxing (ed. 2) 41 If possible send in a straight left to the head. 1930 Daily Express 8 Sept. 1/6 Siki fell to a left on the body and was counted out. 1948 ‘P. Woodruff’ Whatever Dies 126 An odious person who could be neatly floored by one skilful left to the chin. 1967 G. F. Fiennes I tried to run a Railway i. 5 Out shot a telescopic left, and I had the shiner of all time for weeks. |
b. Mil. The left wing (of an army). Also in
pl., the men whose place is on the left.
| 1707 Lond. Gaz. No. 4334/4 Our Right was then at Louvignies, and our Left at Naast. 1780 A. Hamilton Wks. (1886) VIII. 14 We see the consequences. His left ran away, and left his right uncovered. 1796–7 Instr. & Reg. Cavalry (1813) 191 The left's go about by three's. 1832 Prop. Regul. Instr. Cavalry ii. 33 Their Centres and Lefts move up. 1881 Henty Cornet of Horse xvi. (1888) 165 He formed..a heavy column of attack opposite the French left. |
c. In continental legislatures, the section of the members who occupy seats on the left side of the chamber (as viewed from the president's chair), a situation which is by custom assigned to those holding relatively liberal or democratic opinions. Hence applied
transf. to the more advanced or innovating section of a philosophical school, a religious sect, or the like, and
esp. to a political group holding radical or socialist views.
For the origin of the party significance of the term, see
centre n. 15.
| 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. II. v. ii. 285 Still less is a Coté Gauche wanting: extreme Left. 1898 Bodley France II. 327 The combats between the Moderates and the Extreme Left. 1939 John o'London's Weekly 2 June 321/1 A defiant glare at the Left..with an equally defiant glare at the Right. 1940 W. Temple Thoughts in War-Time iii. 24 The Right tends to have a fuller sense of historical continuity than the Left. 1950 Theimer & Campbell Encycl. World Politics 260/2 The communists are referred to as the ‘extreme’ or ‘far’ left. 1971 W. Laqueur Dict. Politics 310 Popularly the Left has favoured rapid social change... During the thirties, Left was associated with opposition to fascism. 1974 ‘W. Haggard’ Kinsman ix. 93 The tiresomely modern bishop..was..very far to the Left. |
3. A glove, boot, etc. for the left hand or foot.
| 1864 F. Locker My Mistress's Boots vii, Cinderella's lefts and rights To Geraldine's were frights. |
4. A shot fired at game with the left barrel of a double-barrelled shotgun; a bird or beast hit by such a shot.
| 1893 H. A. Macpherson et al. Partridge ii. iii. 131 Now thoroughly awake, you kill three neatly, quickly followed by a smart right and left— one in front and one behind—at a brace that come straight at you. 1908 R. H. Benson Conventionalists i. iii. 82 On Saturday he had killed three rights and lefts, and had not missed more than one single bird flying alone. 1910 Blackw. Mag. Jan. 140/1, I got a right and left with the big gun. 1958 M. Brander Rough⁓shooter's Sport xx. 217 When..a covey of grouse was flushed.., I only managed to drop one bird. The others, however, performed more than adequately, each bringing down a right and left. 1974 Field 5 Dec. 1311/1 Congratulate anyone on a good piece of dog work..as one would if he achieved a right and left. |
5. Surfing. The (use of the) left foot.
Cf. goofy a. 2.
| 1968 W. Warwick Surfriding in N.Z. 17/3 Calculate where the waves are shaping up the best for your style of riding. Obviously..goofy footers will favour lefts. 1970 Surf '70 (N.Z.) 17/2 Wayne Charlton was one of the best goofy footers to ever surf the left at Fitzroy. |
Hence
ˈleftness, the condition of being on the left.
| 1530 Palsgr. 238/1 Leftnesse, gavcheté. 1884 [see bilaterality]. 1887 W. James in Mind Jan. 14 Rightness and leftness, upness and downness, are again pure sensations differing specifically from each other. 1890 [see downness]. |
Add:
[A.] [3.] d. Math. Designating an entity whose definition involves two elements in a conventionally defined order, opposite to that denoted by ‘right’ (
right a. 18 b).
| [1933 Ann. Math. XXXIV. 483 When F(x) = D1(x)D2(x) we shall call D2(x) a right-hand and D1(x) a left-hand divisor of F(x).] 1938 F. D. Murnaghan Theory of Group Representations iv. 91 The set Hs-1 (which consists of the inverses of the elements of the left coset sH) has no element in common with H. We term it the right coset of H determined by s-1. 1965 J. J. Rotman Theory of Groups i. 7 Let G be a group and let a {elem} G . Define a function Ta : G → G by Ta(x) = a*x ; (Ta is called left translation by a). 1972 A. G. Howson Handbk. Terms Algebra & Anal. ii. 17 An element e is said to be a left identity (unit) for * if e * x = x for all x. Ibid. v. 28 We..denote Ex by xS and refer to it as a left coset of S in G. 1990 Q. Jrnl. Math. XLI. 22 The biggest problem is to show that a left order in a regular ω-semigroup must have a stratified semigroup of left quotients. |
[C.] 6. A left turn. Chiefly
U.S. Cf. to hang a left s.v. *
hang v. 4 e.
| 1973 G. Sims Hunters Point i. 7 Straight on is Fort Mason... We make a left on to Lombard. 1973 R. L. Simon Big Fix (1974) v. 37, I turned off the freeway..and made a left up the hill into the canyon. 1976 Billings (Montana) Gaz. 20 June (Advt.), {threeon4} mile past the single bridge over the Yellowstone, take a left. 1991 R. Banks Sweet Hereafter i. 19 At Route 73 by the old mill, I banged a left and headed north along the Ausable River. |
▸
Left Coast n. U.S. colloq. the West Coast of the United States,
esp. the state of California.
| 1977 ‘Wet Willie’ Left Coast Live (title of record) *Left Coast Live. 2003 National Jrnl. (U.S.) 12 July 2217/3 Clinton visited California more than 50 times as president, gets along swimmingly with Barbra Streisand and the Hollywood crowd, and remains wildly popular among Left Coast voters. |
▪ II. left, ppl. a. (
lɛft)
[pa. pple. of leave v.] 1. In senses of the
vb. Now rare
exc. in
left-luggage (office, etc.).
| c 1586 C'tess Pembroke Ps. lix. vi, They babling prate, How my left life extinguish may Their deadly hate. 1627–77 Feltham Resolves ii. lviii. (1709) 432 How often does the lavish Gamester squander away a large left Patrimony. 1724 Ramsay Wyfe of Auchtermuchty xii, The twa left gaislings gat a clank. 1816 A. C. Hutchison Pract. Obs. Surg. (1826) 173 He uniformly every night made a hearty repast from the left provisions. 1861 H. Rhys Theatr. Trip Canada & U.S. xi. 96 Arrived at the depôt, I discovered in the doubtful light the ‘left luggage’ room. 1888 Ld. Herschell in Law Reports, Ho. Lords XIII. 53 Left-luggage offices for luggage brought to the station. 1945 G. B. Grundy 55 Yrs. at Oxf. 167 He left it in the left-luggage office. 1963 [see baggage-room]. 1971 ‘E. Candy’ Words for Murder Perhaps xiii. 158 He..came straight back, leaving his case and holdall in the left luggage. |
2. a. With
advs. or
advb. phrase; see
leave v.
1 14.
| 1783 Cowper Let. to Newton 17 Nov., He came to thank me for some left-off clothes. 1841 J. T. J. Hewlett Parish Clerk I. 23 The squire's left-off chintz dressing-gown. 1852 R. S. Surtees Sponge's Sp. Tour (1893) 166 Our left-in-the-lurch friends. 1861 Sala Dutch Pict. xxi. 324 The subject of left-off garments has always been an interesting one to me. 1873 ‘S. Coolidge’ What Katy Did i. 7 In almost every large family, there is one of those..left-out children. 1888 W. Morris in Mackail Life (1899) II. 211 The town is the queerest left-behind sort of a place. 1909 Daily Chron. 14 Jan. 1/5, I believe the left-out millions are more miserable. 1941 E. Bowen Look at Roses 242 Emma's left-behind silver things. 1965 B. Sweet-Escott Baker St. Irreg. i. 38 The section was for a few weeks engaged in organising ‘left behind’ parties all over the British Isles. |
b. absol. passing into n. Chiefly
colloq.| 1890 Standard 14 Apr. 2/6 Witness had given her some of his family's left-offs. 1908 Westm. Gaz. 18 Apr. 3/1 (title) The little brothers. Or, the land of the left-behind. 1965 Economist 21 Aug. 674/2 They [sc. Negroes who rioted, esp. in Los Angeles] believe—some of them rightly—that they could have risen out of the ghetto of the left-behind but for their colour. 1974 W. Foley Child in Forest ii. 220 Getting my swollen inflamed feet back into Leah's left-offs. |