左: left

 

左 zuǒ

noun
: left; the Left (politics); east
: unorthodox; queer; wrong; differing
: opposite; improper

Kun Reading

左 | ひだり hidari

noun | no-adjective
: left; left hand side

 Usage:

左右 zuo3you4: left and right; nearby; approximately; attendant; to control; to influence
[とかくtokaku: (doing) various things; (doing) this and that
: being apt to; being prone to; tending to become
: somehow or other; anyhow; anyway]

OR
 
[さう sau OR そう sou: left and right
: influence; control; domination]

左邊[边] zuo3bian: left; the left side; to the left of

左手 zuo3shou3: left hand; left-hand side [ひだりて hidarite: left hand]

左上 zuo3shang4: upper left [ひだりうえ hidari ue: left-upper]

左下 zuo3xia4: lower left [ひだりした hidari shita]

相左 xiang1zuo3: to fail to meet each other; to conflict with each other; to be at odds with

鄰[邻]左 lin2zuo3: neighbor

[左隣 | ひだりどなり hidari donari: neighbor to the left]

向左 xiang4zuo3: facing left; leftwards; to the left

中左 zhong1zuo3: center left

Japanese expression
左様なら | さようなら sayounara: good-bye

左前になる | ひだりまえになる hidari mae ni naru
: to go downhill (e.g. for one’s business); to be badly off (economically)

平気の平左 | へいきのへいざ heiki no heiza
: quite unconcerned; nonchalant

右と言えば左 | みぎといえばひだり migi to ieba hidari
: always contradicting what other people say

右の耳から左の耳 | みぎのみみからひだりのみみ migi no mimi kara hidari no mimi
: in one ear and out the other

左右に分かれる | さゆうにわかれる sayuu ni wakareru
: to part left and right

ことほど左様に | ことほどさように kotohodo sayouni
: so … that …; to that extent; to that degree

言を左右にする | げんをさゆうにする gen o sayuu ni suru
: to equivocate; to beat around the bush

Chinese idiom
左右兩難 [左右两难] zuo3 you4 liang3 nan2
: dilemma; quandary; Scylla and Charybdis; between the devil and the deep blue sea

左右開弓 [左右开弓] zuo3 you4 kai1 gong1
: lit. to shoot from both sides; fig. to display ambidexterity; to slap with one hand and then the other, in quick succession; to use both feet equally (football)

左右逢源 zuo3 you4 feng2 yuan2
: lit. to strike water right and left; fig. to turn everything into gold; to have everything going one’s way; to benefit from both sides

左思右想 zuo3 si1 you4 xiang3
: to turn over in one’s mind; to think through from different angles; to ponder

王顧左右而言他 [王顾左右而言他] wang2 gu4 zuo3 you4 er2 yan2 ta1
: the king looked left and right and then talked of other things; to digress from the topic of discussion