Skip to main content
leftover

leftover

76 1.6
Not used or eaten after the rest, often food
  • adjective
  • /ˈlɛftˌoʊvər/
: sobrante
  • I might have some chicken chow Mein leftover from last night.
  • leftover food
  • leftover Chinese

Let's go ahead and try this Thanksgiving leftover grilled cheese with Brie.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • I've got some leftover takeout from last night.

  • Just add friends and beer, assuming you have any money leftover for beer or friends.

  • - Well, it is leftover night.

  • And so I use the leftover and rub it on my hands.

  • And we've got roast potatoes leftover and all of that.

  • Let's go ahead and try this Thanksgiving leftover grilled cheese with Brie.

  • Then I had a baguette to make the bread and chocolate (for three nights, mind you), so I had about 1/3 of a baguette left too, plus five leftover grilled mushrooms, one grilled scallion, and leftover French dry sausage.

    Blog text (23)
  • We enjoyed the leftover pizza for lunch the next day.

  • After the party, there were many leftover snacks on the table.

  • She put the leftover salad in the refrigerator for tomorrow.

Synonyms

left
vsleftover
∞ 1.0

Still there after the others are used

is the noun form used for food or other remaining items
remaining
vsleftover
542 1.0

Still left after other things have been used or taken

is used more often for food or small edible remainders
left over
vsleftover
104 2.1

Something that remains after the rest has been used or eaten

is the single-word modern spelling for the same meaning
odd
vsleftover
18 2.5

Left over or not matching the rest

means general remainder rather than an unpaired item
unspent
vsleftover
3 4.1

Money or resources that have not yet been used

is used more for general remainders, not only financial ones
unexpended
vsleftover
1 7.1

Money or resources that are not yet spent

can describe physical remainders beyond money contexts
unexhausted
vsleftover
1 6.5

Still available because it is not used up

refers to a simple remainder rather than partial depletion

Compounds

Pizza kept to eat later after a meal

How Much

surplus
157 3.1
remainder
89 2.7
leftover
76 1.6
remnant
104 4.2
scrap
147 2.1

Surface Forms

leftover positive

Morphology

leftover = left (transparent) = over + left

Adjectival use directly reflects the compound 'left' + 'over' meaning 'remaining'. [Postprocessing: moved 'over' from base_words to prefix]

Etymology

The word leftover comes from left (the past of leave) and over, both meaning 'remaining' or 'left behind', so it describes something that stays after the rest is used. That's why we call cake, paint, or other things 'leftover' when they are kept to use later.