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[left] /lɛft/

adjective
1.
of, relating to, or located on or near the side of a person or thing that is turned toward the west when the subject is facing north (opposed to ).
2.
(often initial capital letter) of or belonging to the political Left; having liberal or radical views in politics.
3.
Mathematics. pertaining to an element of a set that has a given property when written on the left of an element or set of elements of the set:
a left identity, as 1 in 1 ⋅ x = x.
noun
4.
the left side or something that is on the left side.
5.
a turn toward the left:
Make a left at the next corner.
6.
the Left.

7.
(usually initial capital letter) Government.

8.
Boxing. a blow delivered by the left hand.
9.
Baseball. (def 1).
adverb
10.
toward the left:
She moved left on entering the room.
[left] /lɛft/
verb
1.
simple past tense and past participle of 1 .
Idioms
2.
get left,

[leev] /liv/
verb (used with object), left, leaving.
1.
to go out of or away from, as a place:
to leave the house.
2.
to depart from permanently; quit:
to leave a job.
3.
to let remain or have remaining behind after going, disappearing, ceasing, etc.:
I left my wallet home. The wound left a scar.
4.
to allow to remain in the same place, condition, etc.:
Is there any coffee left?
5.
to let stay or be as specified:
to leave a door unlocked.
6.
to let (a person or animal) remain in a position to do something without interference:
We left him to his work.
7.
to let (a thing) remain for action or decision:
We left the details to the lawyer.
8.
to give in charge; deposit; entrust:
Leave the package with the receptionist. I left my name and phone number.
9.
to stop; cease; give up:
He left music to study law.
10.
to disregard; neglect:
We will leave this for the moment and concentrate on the major problem.
11.
to give for use after one’s death or departure:
to leave all one’s money to charity.
12.
to have remaining after death:
He leaves a wife and three children.
13.
to have as a remainder after subtraction:
2 from 4 leaves 2.
14.
Nonstandard. 1 (defs 1, 2, 6).
verb (used without object), left, leaving.
15.
to go away, depart, or set out:
We leave for Europe tomorrow.
Verb phrases
16.
leave alone. (def 7).
17.
leave off,

18.
leave out, to omit; exclude:
She left out an important detail in her account.
[leev] /liv/
verb (used without object), leaved, leaving.
1.
to put forth leaves; leaf.
/lɛft/
adjective
1.
(usually prenominal) of or designating the side of something or someone that faces west when the front is turned towards the north
2.
(usually prenominal) worn on a left hand, foot, etc
3.
(sometimes capital) of or relating to the political or intellectual left
4.
(sometimes capital) radical or progressive, esp as compared to less radical or progressive groups, persons, etc
adverb
5.
on or in the direction of the left
noun
6.
a left side, direction, position, area, or part related adjectives sinister sinistral
7.
(often capital) the supporters or advocates of varying degrees of social, political, or economic change, reform, or revolution designed to promote the greater freedom, power, welfare, or comfort of the common people
8.
to the left, radical in the methods, principles, etc, employed in striving to achieve such change
9.
(boxing)

/lɛft/
verb
1.
the past tense and past participle of leave1
/liːv/
verb (mainly transitive) leaves, leaving, left
1.
(also intransitive) to go or depart (from a person or place)
2.
to cause to remain behind, often by mistake, in a place: he often leaves his keys in his coat
3.
to cause to be or remain in a specified state: paying the bill left him penniless
4.
to renounce or abandon: to leave a political movement
5.
to refrain from consuming or doing something: the things we have left undone
6.
to result in; cause: childhood problems often leave emotional scars
7.
to allow to be or remain subject to another person or thing: leave the past to look after itself
8.
to entrust or commit: leave the shopping to her
9.
to submit in place of one’s personal appearance: will you leave your name and address?
10.
to pass in a specified direction: flying out of the country, we left the cliffs on our left
11.
to be survived by (members of one’s family): he leaves a wife and two children
12.
to bequeath or devise: he left his investments to his children
13.
(transitive) to have as a remainder: 37 – 14 leaves 23
14.
(not standard) to permit; let
15.
(informal) leave be, to leave undisturbed
16.
(not standard) leave go, leave hold of, to stop holding
17.
(informal) leave it at that, to take a matter no further
18.
leave much to be desired, to be very unsatisfactory
19.
leave someone alone

20.
leave someone to himself, not to control or direct someone
/liːv/
noun
1.
permission to do something: he was granted leave to speak
2.
by your leave, with your leave, with your permission
3.
permission to be absent, as from a place of work or duty: leave of absence
4.
the duration of such absence: ten days’ leave
5.
a farewell or departure (esp in the phrase take (one’s) leave)
6.
on leave, officially excused from work or duty
7.
take leave, to say farewell (to)
8.
take leave of one’s senses, to go mad or become irrational
/liːv/
verb leaves, leaving, leaved
1.
(intransitive) to produce or grow leaves
adj.

c.1200, from Kentish and northern English form of Old English lyft- “weak, foolish” (cf. lyft-adl “lameness, paralysis,” East Frisian luf, Dutch dialectal loof “weak, worthless”). It emerged 13c. as “opposite of right” (the left being usually the weaker hand), a derived sense also found in cognate Middle Dutch and Low German luchter, luft. But German link, Dutch linker “left” are from Old High German slinc and Middle Dutch slink “left,” related to Old English slincan “crawl,” Swedish linka “limp,” slinka “dangle.”

Replaced Old English winestra, literally “friendlier,” a euphemism used superstitiously to avoid invoking the unlucky forces connected with the left side (see sinister). The Kentish word itself may have been originally a taboo replacement, if instead it represents PIE root *laiwo-, meaning “considered conspicuous” (represented in Greek laios, Latin laevus, and Russian levyi). Greek also uses a euphemism for “left,” aristeros “the better one” (cf. also Avestan vairyastara- “to the left,” from vairya- “desirable”). But Lithuanian kairys “left” and Lettish kreilis “left hand” derive from a root that yields words for “twisted, crooked.”

As an adverb from early 14c. As a noun from c.1200. Political sense arose from members of a legislative body assigned to the left side of a chamber, first attested in English 1837 (by Carlyle, in reference to the French Revolution), probably a loan-translation of French la gauche (1791), said to have originated during the seating of the French National Assembly in 1789 in which the nobility took the seats on the President’s right and left the Third Estate to sit on the left. Became general in U.S. and British political speech c.1900.

Used since at least c.1600 in various senses of “irregular, illicit;” earlier proverbial sense was “opposite of what is expressed” (mid-15c.). Phrase out in left field “out of touch with pertinent realities” is attested from 1944, from the baseball fielding position that tends to be far removed from the play. To have two left feet “be clumsy” is attested by 1902. The Left Bank of Paris (left bank of the River Seine, as you face downstream) has been associated with intellectual and artistic culture since at least 1893.
v.

past tense and past participle of leave (v.).
v.

Old English læfan “to let remain; remain; have left; bequeath,” from Proto-Germanic *laibijan (cf. Old Frisian leva “to leave,” Old Saxon farlebid “left over”), causative of *liban “remain,” (cf. Old English belifan, German bleiben, Gothic bileiban “to remain”), from root *laf- “remnant, what remains,” from PIE *leip- “to stick, adhere;” also “fat.”

The Germanic root has only the sense “remain, continue,” which also is in Greek lipares “persevering, importunate.” But this usually is regarded as a development from the primary PIE sense of “adhere, be sticky” (cf. Lithuanian lipti, Old Church Slavonic lipet “to adhere,” Greek lipos “grease,” Sanskrit rip-/lip- “to smear, adhere to.” Seemingly contradictory meaning of “depart” (early 13c.) comes from notion of “to leave behind” (as in to leave the earth “to die;” to leave the field “retreat”).
n.

“permission,” Old English leafe “leave, permission, license,” dative and accusative of leaf “permission,” from West Germanic *lauba (cf. Old Norse leyfi “permission,” Old Saxon orlof, Old Frisian orlof, German Urlaub “leave of absence”), from PIE *leubh- “to care, desire, love, approve” (see love (n.)). Cognate with Old English lief “dear,” the original idea being “approval resulting from pleasure.” Cf. love, believe. In military sense, it is attested from 1771.

Related Terms

hang a left

Related Terms

french leave