Definition

1. Noun:
   • A left-handed person: A person who naturally uses their left hand more skillfully than their right hand for activities like writing or throwing.
   • A left-handed pitcher in baseball: Specifically, a baseball pitcher who throws the ball with the left hand.

Usage

• The term is most commonly used in sports contexts, especially baseball and boxing, to describe a left-handed competitor.
• It is an informal, often friendly term. In formal contexts, "left-handed" is preferred.

Examples

• General Use:
  • He writes with his left hand; he's a southpaw.
  • As a southpaw, she had to use special scissors.
• Sports Use:
  • The team signed a new southpaw to strengthen their pitching rotation.
  • The boxer struggled against his southpaw opponent's unusual stance.

Advanced Usage

• "Southpaw stance": In combat sports like boxing or martial arts, a stance where the right hand and right foot are forward, typical for a left-handed (southpaw) fighter.
  • He adopted a southpaw stance to confuse his opponent.
• "Southpaw jab": A punch thrown with the lead right hand from a southpaw stance.
  • His southpaw jab was quick and effective.

Variants and Related Words

• Southpaw can also be used informally as an adjective.
  • He has a southpaw swing. (He swings left-handed.)
• Left-hander (n): A more standard synonym for a left-handed person.
• Port-sider (n): A rare, informal synonym for a left-handed pitcher, primarily used in baseball.

Synonyms

• Left-hander: A person who uses the left hand.
• Lefty: A very common, casual synonym for a left-handed person.

Antonyms

• Right-hander: A person who uses the right hand.
• Righty: A casual term for a right-handed person.

Word Origin

• The term originated in baseball in the late 19th century. Many old baseball parks were oriented so that the batter faced east to avoid the afternoon sun. A left-handed pitcher's throwing arm would then be on the southern side of the mound, hence "southpaw."

Noun

1. a person who uses the left hand with greater skill than the right
   • their pitcher was a southpaw
2. a baseball pitcher who throws the ball with the left hand