leftover food

Meaning

This refers to the food that remains uneaten at the end of a meal, which is often saved to be eaten later. It is a very common term in household contexts. While 'leftovers' is often used as a plural noun, 'leftover food' acts as a noun phrase to describe the remaining meals.

Examples

• We have a lot of leftover food from the party last night.

  We have a lot of leftover food from the party last night.

• I usually pack leftover food for my lunch at work the next day.

  I usually pack leftover food for my lunch at work the next day.

• Don't throw away that chicken; it's perfectly good leftover food.

  Don't throw away that chicken; it's perfectly good leftover food.

• She made a delicious soup using the leftover food from Sunday's roast.

  She made a delicious soup using the leftover food from Sunday's roast.

• How long can you safely keep leftover food in the fridge?

  How long can you safely keep leftover food in the fridge?

Common Mistakes

• ✗ I ate some left food for lunch.

  ✓ I ate some leftover food for lunch.

  We use 'leftover' (one word) as an adjective, not 'left' or 'lefted'.

• ✗ We have many leftovers foods.

  ✓ We have a lot of leftover food.

  When 'leftover' is an adjective modifying 'food', 'food' is uncountable and 'leftover' does not take an 's'. Alternatively, just say 'leftovers'.

Related Expressions

Practice

• I don't feel like cooking, so let's just heat up some ___ food.

  💡 food remaining from a previous meal

  Show answer

  leftover

• Make sure to put the leftover ___ in a sealed container.

  💡 general term for what we eat

  Show answer

  food