释义 |
left-handed I. \ˈ ̷ ̷| ̷ ̷ ̷ ̷\ adjective Etymology: Middle English left handed, from left hand + -ed 1. : having the left hand more apt or usable than the right : preferring the left hand : southpaw < a brilliant left-handed pitcher > 2. a. : marked by clumsiness or ineptitude : awkward b. : exhibiting deviousness or indirection : oblique, unintended < New England contributed to freedom of conscience only by the left-handed method of making martyrs to that cause — G.W.Johnson > c. obsolete : given to malevolent scheming or contriving : sinister, underhand 3. : marked by uncertain or ambiguous intent : backhanded, dubious, double-edged < is not very grateful for this support, which it considers a left-handed compliment — J.A.C.F.Auer > < did the industry a left-handed favor — Steelways > 4. archaic : portending ill : inauspicious 5. a. : of, relating to, or born of a morganatic marriage b. : of or relating to an illicit or informal liaison : illegitimate < though only four marriages between Frenchmen and Indians were recorded, left-handed marriages are known to have been frequent — William & Mary Quarterly > 6. : left-hand 4 7. a. : having a crystal structure that has a mirror-image relationship to another enantiomorphous structure regarded as right-handed in which the same compound can crystallize < left-handed quartz > b. : having crystal faces that result from and may be used to characterize such a structure c. : levorotatory 8. of a rope : left-laid 9. : sinistral < left-handed whelks > • left-hand·ed·ly adverb • left-hand·ed·ness noun -es II. adverb : with the left hand : in a left-handed manner : left-handedly < pitched left-handed > |