southpaw
/ˈsaʊθˌpɔː/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.57 in modern English
16
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
2
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "Never touch the food until your host has said grace ("Bismillah") and then not till he has told you to. Eat only with your right hand—it is considered very rude to use the left, even if you are a southpaw."
- "Since home plate is generally in the southwest corner to avoid glare in the batter's eyes, a southpaw's pitching hand is to the south."
- "Eleanor would pitch, probably southpaw. Rosalind was outfield, wonderful hitter, Clara first base, maybe."
Etymology
From south + paw. The original derivation is unclear: although now best known from the sport of baseball, the term is first attested in 1813, before baseball was founded. Suggested theories include: For Boxing: * Evidence suggests the term existed before baseball, being used in the 1840s to describe a left-handed punch or "paw" in boxing. A 1848 political cartoon described a "south paw" blow in this context. For Baseball: * Early 19th-century ballparks were often built with home plate on the west side and the pitcher's mound on the east to prevent the sun from being in the batter's eyes. Consequently, a left-handed pitcher's arm would be facing the southern side of the diamond. However, the term was originally used to refer to position players rather than pitchers.