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left-handedmore about left-handed

left-handed

 

  3  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Left-handed  \Left"-hand`ed\,  a. 
  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. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  left-handed 
  adj  1:  using  or  intended  for  the  right  hand;  "left-handed  golfers 
  need  left-handed  clubs";  "left-handed  scissors"  [ant: 
  {ambidextrous},  {right-handed}] 
  2:  (of  marriages)  illicit  or  informal;  "in  Colonial  America 
  left-handed  marriages  between  Frenchmen  and  Indians  were 
  frequent" 
  3:  (of  marriages)  of  a  marriage  between  one  of  royal  or  noble 
  birth  and  one  of  lower  rank;  valid  but  with  the 
  understanding  that  the  rank  of  the  inferior  remains 
  unchanged  and  offspring  do  not  succeed  to  titles  or 
  property  of  the  superior  [syn:  {morganatic}] 
  4:  rotating  to  the  left  [syn:  {levorotary},  {levorotatory}] 
  5:  ironically  ambiguous;  "a  left-handed  compliment" 
  6:  not  skillful  in  physical  movement  especially  with  the  hands; 
  "a  bumbling  mechanic";  "a  bungling  performance"; 
  "ham-handed  governmental  interference";  "could  scarcely 
  empty  a  scuttle  of  ashes,  so  handless  was  the  poor 
  creature"-  Mary  H.  Vorse  [syn:  {bumbling},  {bungling},  {butterfingered}, 
  {ham-fisted},  {ham-handed},  {handless},  {heavy-handed}] 
 
  From  Easton's  1897  Bible  Dictionary  [easton]: 
 
  Left-handed 
  (Judg.  3:15;  20:16),  one  unable  to  use  the  right  hand  skilfully, 
  and  who  therefore  uses  the  left  and  also  one  who  uses  the  left 
  as  well  as  the  right  ambidexter.  Such  a  condition  of  the  hands 
  is  due  to  physical  causes.  This  quality  was  common  apparently  in 
  the  tribe  of  Benjamin.




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