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  1. southpaw love

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. Slang A left-handed person, especially a left-handed baseball pitcher.

Wiktionary

  1. n. informal One who is left-handed, especially in sports.
  2. n. baseball A left-handed pitcher.
  3. n. A left-handed writer who, instead of mirroring right-handed writers, turn his or her hand upsidedown in order to put the writing implement in the same position as right-handed writers.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. adj. (Baseball), Cant Using the left hand in pitching; said of a pitcher.
  2. n. Cant A pitcher who pitches with the left hand.

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. a baseball pitcher who throws the ball with the left hand
  2. n. a person who uses the left hand with greater skill than the right

Etymologies

  1. From the practice in baseball of arranging the diamond with the batter facing east to avoid the afternoon sun. A left-handed pitcher facing west would therefore have his pitching arm toward the south of the diamond. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

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Lists

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Comments

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  • hernesheir Scots kypie. May 24, 2011

  • hernesheir Spanish surdo; Irish Gaelic cithog. Feb 17, 2010

  • loveizaturtle 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 Feb 17, 2010

  • pomegranate 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)! Dec 5, 2007

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‘southpaw’ has been looked up 1902 times, loved by 4 people, added to 21 lists, commented on 4 times, and has a Scrabble score of 16.