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Webster 1913 Edition

Left-handed

Left′-handˊed

,
Adj.
1.
Having the left hand or arm stronger and more dexterous than the right; using the left hand and arm with more dexterity than the right.
2.
Clumsy; awkward; unlucky; insincere; sinister; malicious;
as, a
left-handed
compliment
.
The commendations of this people are not always
left-handed
and detractive.
Landor.
3.
Having a direction contrary to that of the hands of a watch when seen in front; – said of a twist, a rotary motion, etc., looked at from a given direction.
Left-handed marriage
,
a morganatic marriage. See
Morganatic
.
–
Left-handed screw
,
a screw constructed to advance away from the observer, when turned, as in a nut, with a left-handed rotation. An ordinary wood screw is right-handed.

Webster 1828 Edition

Left-handed

LEFT-HAND'ED

,
Adj.
1.
Having the left hand or arm more strong and dextrous than the right; using the left hand and arm with more dexterity than the right.
2.
Unlucky; inauspicious; unseasonable. Obs.

Definition 2024

left-handed

left-handed

See also: lefthanded

English

Alternative forms

Adjective

left-handed ‎(not comparable)

  1. Using one's left hand in preference to, or more skillfully than, one's right.
  2. Intended to be worn on, or used by, the left hand.
  3. Turning or spiraling from right to left; anticlockwise.
  4. Awkward or maladroit.

Noun

left-handed ‎(uncountable)

  1. Left-handed people, taken as a whole.
    • 1992, Antonio E. Puente & ‎Robert J. McCaffrey, Handbook of Neuropsychological Assessment, ISBN 0306439409, page 147:
      Evidence contradicting this principle came from a study of epileptic patients by Penfield and Roberts (1959) who found that dysphasia following surgery on the right hemisphere was not significantly more frequent in the left-handed than in the right-handed.

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