reverse
See also: reversé
English
Etymology
Borrowed from Anglo-Norman revers (noun, adjective), reverser (verb), Middle French revers (noun, adjectve), reverser (verb), and their source, Latin reversus (perfect passive participle), reversō (verb), from re- + versō.
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /ɹɪˈvəːs/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)s
Adjective
reverse (comparative more reverse, superlative most reverse)
- Opposite, contrary; going in the opposite direction. [from 14th c.]
- We ate the meal in reverse order, starting with dessert and ending with the starter.
- The mirror showed us a reverse view of the scene.
- Pertaining to engines, vehicle movement etc. moving in a direction opposite to the usual direction. [from 19th c.]
- He selected reverse gear.
- (rail transport, of points) To be in the non-default position; to be set for the lesser-used route.
- Turned upside down; greatly disturbed.
- Gower
- He found the sea diverse / With many a windy storm reverse.
- Gower
- (botany) Reversed.
- a reverse shell
- (genetics) In which cDNA synthetization is obtained from an RNA template.
Antonyms
- (rail transport): normal
Derived terms
- reverse 911 call
- reverse boustrophedon
- reverse cascade
- reverse chops
- reverse commute
- reverse commuter
- reverse cowgirl position
- reverse cycler
- reverse dictionary
- reverse discrimination
- reverse domestic violence
- reverse dowry
- reverse dunk
- reverse electrodialysis
- reverse fault
- reverse ferret
- reverse gangbang
- reverse genetic
- reverse genetics
- reverse harem
- reverse implied odds
- reverse intaglio
- reverse jinx
- reverse layup
- reverse link
- reversely
- reverse mermaid
- reverse mortgage
- reverse osmosis
- reverse panda
- reverse pass
- reverse pickpocket
- reverse Polish notation
- reverse proxy
- reverse psychology
- reverse question
- reverse racism
- reverse racist
- reverse rape
- reverse repo
- reverse sexism
- reverse shot
- reverse spelling
- reverse sweep
- reverse swing
- reverse transcriptase
- reverse transcription
- reverse vending machine
- reverse video
Translations
having the order of its constituents moved backwards
|
causing movement in the opposite direction
Adverb
reverse (comparative more reverse, superlative most reverse)
- (now rare) In a reverse way or direction; upside-down. [from 14thc.]
- 1485 July 31, Thomas Malory, “(please specify the chapter)”, in [Le Morte Darthur], (please specify the book number), [London]: […] [by William Caxton], OCLC 71490786; republished as H[einrich] Oskar Sommer, editor, Le Morte Darthur […], London: Published by David Nutt, […], 1889, OCLC 890162034:, Bk.XVIII:
- they three smote hym at onys with their spearys, and with fors of themselff they smote Sir Launcelottis horse revers to the erthe.
- 1963, Donal Serrell Thomas, Points of Contact:
- The man was killed to feed his image fat / Within this pictured world that ran reverse, / Where miracles alone were ever plain.
-
Synonyms
- See also Thesaurus:vice versa or Thesaurus:upside down
Noun
reverse (plural reverses)
- The opposite of something. [from 14th c.]
- We believed the Chinese weren't ready for us. In fact, the reverse was true.
- The act of going backwards; a reversal. [from 15th c.]
- Lamb
- By a reverse of fortune, Stephen becomes rich.
- Lamb
- A piece of misfortune; a setback. [from 16th c.]
- 1990, Peter Hopkirk, The Great Game, Folio Society 2010, p. 309:
- In fact, though the Russians did not yet know it, the British had met with a reverse.
- 1990, Peter Hopkirk, The Great Game, Folio Society 2010, p. 309:
- The tails side of a coin, or the side of a medal or badge that is opposite the obverse. [from 17th c.]
- The side of something facing away from a viewer, or from what is considered the front; the other side. [from 18th c.]
- The gear setting of an automobile that makes it travel backwards. [from 19th c.]
- A thrust in fencing made with a backward turn of the hand; a backhanded stroke.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Shakespeare to this entry?)
- (surgery) A turn or fold made in bandaging, by which the direction of the bandage is changed.
Derived terms
Translations
opposite of something
|
reversal
|
setback, misfortune
side of a medal, badge, or coin opposite the obverse
|
side of something facing away; opposite of front
gear
|
turn or fold made in bandaging
Verb
reverse (third-person singular simple present reverses, present participle reversing, simple past and past participle reversed)
- (intransitive) To turn something around such that it faces in the opposite direction.
- (intransitive) To turn something inside out or upside down.
- Sir W. Temple
- A pyramid reversed may stand upon his point if balanced by admirable skill.
- Sir W. Temple
- (intransitive) To transpose the positions of two things.
- (transitive) To change totally; to alter to the opposite.
- Shakespeare
- Reverse the doom of death.
- Sir Walter Scott
- She reversed the conduct of the celebrated vicar of Bray.
- Shakespeare
- (obsolete, intransitive) To return, come back.
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.4:
- Bene they all dead, and laide in dolefull herse? / Or doen they onely sleepe, and shall againe reuerse?
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.4:
- (obsolete, transitive) To turn away; to cause to depart.
- Spenser
- And that old dame said many an idle verse, / Out of her daughter's heart fond fancies to reverse.
- Spenser
- (obsolete, transitive) To cause to return; to recall.
- Spenser
- And to his fresh remembrance did reverse / The ugly view of his deformed crimes.
- Spenser
- (law) To revoke a law, or to change a decision into its opposite.
- to reverse a judgment, sentence, or decree
- (ergative) To cause a mechanism or a vehicle to operate or move in the opposite direction to normal.
- (chemistry) To change the direction of a reaction such that the products become the reactants and vice-versa.
- (rail transport, transitive) To place a set of points in the reverse position
- (rail transport, intransitive, of points) to move from the normal position to the reverse position
- To overthrow; to subvert.
- Alexander Pope
- These can divide, and these reverse, the state.
- Rogers
- Custom […] reverses even the distinctions of good and evil.
- Alexander Pope
Antonyms
Derived terms
Translations
to turn something around
to turn something inside out
|
to transpose the positions of two things
to revoke a law
to cause a mechanism or vehicle to operate or move in the opposite directions
rail transport: to place points in the reverse position
French
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ʁə.vɛʁs/
Verb
reverse
Latin
References
- reverse in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
Spanish
Verb
reverse
- First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of reversar.
- Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of reversar.
- Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted?) present subjunctive form of reversar.
- Formal second-person singular (usted) imperative form of reversar.
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