Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A left-handed person, especially a left-handed baseball pitcher.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective (Baseball), Cant Using the left hand in pitching; said of a pitcher.
- noun Cant A pitcher who pitches with the left hand.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun informal One who is
left-handed , especially insports . - noun baseball A left-handed
pitcher . - noun A left-handed
writer who, instead ofmirroring right-handed writers, turn his or her handupsidedown in order to put the writingimplement in the same position as right-handed writers.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a baseball pitcher who throws the ball with the left hand
- noun a person who uses the left hand with greater skill than the right
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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I have the CDL in southpaw and use it for just about everything.
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I have the CDL in southpaw and use it for just about everything.
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Macha brought in southpaw Ricardo Rincon (1-1), whose first offering was belted off the right field wall by Darin Erstad, plating two and tying the game, 4-4.
USATODAY.com 2004
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Who's the most dangerous when a southpaw is on the mound?
USATODAY.com 2002
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On Sept. 6 the southpaw is scheduled to undergo the last of three operations he needed to correct the condition.
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This incredible southpaw is being heavily recruited from coast to coast.
USATODAY.com - The second look: Five more golden nugget QBs 2002
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I don't know its derivation, but just the sound of it -- "southpaw" -- it doesn't make you wish you'd been born one.
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I don't know its derivation, but just the sound of it -- "southpaw" -- it doesn't make you wish you'd been born one.
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He is tough and a southpaw, which is always trouble for orthodox fighters.
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But the southpaw was able to avert further trouble as he got both Sean Casey and Wily Mo Pena to foul out.
USATODAY.com 2003
pomegranate commented on the word southpaw
The word that assumes ballparks are laid out with home plate to the west (a real pain in the butt for rightfielders on late summer evenings)!
December 6, 2007
loveizaturtle commented on the word southpaw
Non-baseball usage predates the first recorded reference to left-handed pitchers and batters as such. June 30th, 1813, The Tickler, published in Philadelphia, PA. Therefore, although predominant in current usage, the term is a simple expression for left-handed individuals. See also roman term sinus used for anything carved or hollowed out or folds of a garment; togas had pockets in the folds that draped across the left shoulder, under the right arm and wrapped over the left shoulder again. This upper left chest area of the toga is the sinus. From this root comes sinister, a later period reference to left-handedness. See ADRIAN E. FLATT, MD, FRCS, Baylor University Medical Proceedings for in-depth analysis of left-handedness over the millenia. 8D
February 17, 2010
hernesheir commented on the word southpaw
Spanish surdo; Irish Gaelic cithog.
February 17, 2010
hernesheir commented on the word southpaw
Scots kypie.
May 24, 2011