leftover
leftover Lexical Profile
leftover Game Scores & Validity
• adjective
Remaining unused, unconsumed, or unwanted after the main part has been used, eaten, or taken.
"She used the leftover roast chicken and vegetables to make a hearty soup the next day."
• noun
Food remaining uneaten at the end of a meal, often saved to be eaten at a later time (usually used in the plural).
"We packed the Thanksgiving leftovers into plastic containers and stored them in the refrigerator."
Something that remains unused or survives from an earlier period, system, or event.
"The outdated filing procedure was a bureaucratic leftover from the company's early days."
Word Nuance & Usage
Write 'leftover' as a single word when used as a noun or as an attributive adjective before a noun (e.g., 'leftover pizza'), but as two words ('left over') when used predicatively after a linking verb (e.g., 'the pizza that was left over').
Word Origin & Etymology
Formed in the late 19th century as a compound of the phrasal expression 'left over,' combining the past participle of 'leave' (from Old English 'læfan,' meaning to let remain) and 'over' (from Old English 'ofer').