Lexic.us

Definition of Reverse

1. Adjective. Directed or moving toward the rear. "A rearward movement"

2. Verb. Change to the contrary. "Public opinion turned when it was revealed that the president had an affair with a White House intern"

3. Noun. A relation of direct opposition. "We thought Sue was older than Bill but just the reverse was true"

4. Adjective. Of the transmission gear causing backward movement in a motor vehicle. "In reverse gear"

5. Verb. Turn inside out or upside down.

6. Noun. The gears by which the motion of a machine can be reversed.

7. Adjective. Reversed (turned backward) in order or nature or effect.

8. Verb. Rule against. "The Republicans were overruled when the House voted on the bill"

9. Noun. An unfortunate happening that hinders or impedes; something that is thwarting or frustrating.

10. Verb. Cancel officially. "Vacate a death sentence"

11. Noun. The side of a coin or medal that does not bear the principal design.

12. Verb. Reverse the position, order, relation, or condition of. "When forming a question, invert the subject and the verb"

13. Noun. (American football) a running play in which a back running in one direction hands the ball to a back running in the opposite direction.

14. Noun. Turning in the opposite direction.

Definition of Reverse

1. a. Turned backward; having a contrary or opposite direction; hence; opposite or contrary in kind; as, the reverse order or method.

2. n. That which appears or is presented when anything, as a lance, a line, a course of conduct, etc., is reverted or turned contrary to its natural direction.

3. v. t. To turn back; to cause to face in a contrary direction; to cause to depart.

4. v. i. To return; to revert.

Definition of Reverse

1. Adjective. Opposite, contrary; going in the opposite direction. (defdate from 14th c.) ¹

2. Adjective. Pertaining to engines, vehicle movement etc. moving in a direction opposite to the usual direction. (defdate from 19th c.) ¹

3. Adjective. (rail transport of points) to be in the non-default position; to be set for the lesser-used route. ¹

4. Adverb. (rare) In a reverse way or direction; upside-down. (defdate from 14th c.) ¹

5. Noun. The opposite of something. (defdate from 14th c.) ¹

6. Noun. The act of going backwards; a reversal. (defdate from 15th c.) ¹

7. Noun. A piece of misfortune; a setback. (defdate from 16th c.) ¹

8. Noun. The ''tails'' side of a coin, or the side of a medal or badge that is opposite the obverse. (defdate from 17th c.) ¹

9. Noun. The side of something facing away from a viewer, or from what is considered the front; the other side. (defdate from 18th c.) ¹

10. Noun. The gear setting of an automobile that makes it travel backwards. (defdate from 19th c.) ¹

11. Verb. (intransitive) To turn something around such that it faces in the opposite direction. ¹

12. Verb. (intransitive) To turn something inside out or upside down. ¹

13. Verb. (intransitive) To transpose the positions of two things. ¹

14. Verb. (obsolete intransitive) To return, come back. ¹

15. Verb. (legal) To revoke a law, or to change a decision into its opposite. ¹

16. Verb. (ergative) To cause a mechanism or a vehicle to operate or move in the opposite direction. ¹

17. Verb. (chemistry) To change the direction of a reaction such that the products become the reactants and vice-versa. ¹

18. Verb. (rail transport transitive) To place a set of points in the reverse position ¹

19. Verb. (rail transport intransitive of points) to move from the normal position to the reverse position ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Reverse

1. to turn or move in the opposite direction [v -VERSED, -VERSING, -VERSES]

Medical Definition of Reverse

1. 1. To turn back; to cause to face in a contrary direction; to cause to depart. "And that old dame said many an idle verse, Out of her daughter's heart fond fancies to reverse." (Spenser) 2. To cause to return; to recall. "And to his fresh remembrance did reverse The ugly view of his deformed crimes." (Spenser) 3. To change totally; to alter to the opposite. "Reverse the doom of death." (Shak) "She reversed the conduct of the celebrated vicar of Bray." (Sir W. Scott) 4. To turn upside down; to invert. "A pyramid reversed may stand upon his point if balanced by admirable skill." (Sir W. Temple) 5. Hence, to overthrow; to subvert. "These can divide, and these reverse, the state." (Pope) "Custom . . . Reverses even the distinctions of good and evil." (Rogers) 6. To overthrow by a contrary decision; to make void; to under or annual for error; as, to reverse a judgment, sentence, or decree. Reverse arms, a position of a soldier in which the piece passes between the right elbow and the body at an angle of 45 deg, and is held as in the illustration. To reverse an engine or a machine, to cause it to perform its revolutions or action in the opposite direction. Synonym: To overturn, overset, invert, overthrow, subvert, repeal, annul, revoke, undo. Origin: See Reverse, and cf. Revert. 1. Turned backward; having a contrary or opposite direction; hence; opposite or contrary in kind; as, the reverse order or method. "A vice reverse unto this." 2. Turned upside down; greatly disturbed. "He found the sea diverse With many a windy storm reverse." (Gower) 3. Reversed; as, a reverse shell. Reverse bearing, a fire in the rear. Reverse operation, an operation the steps of which are taken in a contrary order to that in which the same or similar steps are taken in another operation considered as direct; an operation in which that is sought which in another operation is given, and that given which in the other is sought; as, finding the length of a pendulum from its time of vibration is the reverse operation to finding the time of vibration from the length. Origin: OE. Revers, OF. Revers, L. Reversus, p. P. Of revertere. See Revert. 1. That which appears or is presented when anything, as a lance, a line, a course of conduct, etc, is reverted or turned contrary to its natural direction. "He did so with the reverse of the lance." (Sir W. Scott) 2. That which is directly opposite or contrary to something else; a contrary; an opposite. "And then mistook reverse of wrong for right." (Pope) "To make everything the reverse of what they have seen, is quite as easy as to destroy." (Burke) 3. The act of reversing; complete change; reversal; hence, total change in circumstances or character; especially, a change from better to worse; misfortune; a check or defeat; as, the enemy met with a reverse. "The strange reverse of fate you see; I pitied you, now you may pity me." (Dryden) "By a reverse of fortune, Stephen becomes rich." (Lamb) 4. The back side; as, the reverse of a drum or trench; the reverse of a medal or coin, that is, the side opposite to the obverse. See Obverse. 5. A thrust in fencing made with a backward turn of the hand; a backhanded stroke. 6. A turn or fold made in bandaging, by which the direction of the bandage is changed. Origin: Cf. F. Revers. See Reverse. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Reverse

reverie reveries reverified reverifies reverify reverifying revering reverist reverists reveromycin

revers revers'd reversal reversal learning reversals reverse (current term) reverse-commute reverse-commuted reverse-commutes reverse-commuting

reverse-dowry reverse-engineer reverse-engineered reverse-engineering reverse-engineers reverse-pickpocket reverse-pickpocketed reverse-pickpocketing reverse-pickpockets reverse 911 call

Literary usage of Reverse

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. South Eastern Reporter by West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, West Publishing Company, South Carolina Supreme Court (1906)
"... and constitutes the assignment of error relied on here to reverse the Judgment There la no rule of practice better settled In this state than "that a ..."

2. United States Supreme Court Reports by Lawyers Co-operative Publishing Company, United States Supreme Court (1912)
"cult courts concur In opinion on the facts, and there Is testimony supporting their decision, this court will not reverse. The act oí Apr. 20, 1864, ..."

3. The Republic of Plato by Plato, Benjamin Jowett (1881)
"Until he reaches some one rare and grand result, which may be good, and may be the reverse of good. That is not to be denied. And for this reason, I said, ..."

4. The Republic of Plato by Plato (1914)
"move the worst, and leave the best, while he does the reverse." " Why, apparently, he must do so, if he is to be master." XVIII. ..."

5. Science by American Association for the Advancement of Science (1895)
"Figure 3 illustrates the result when the whole of the reverse current was ... The reverse current in the second coil was not at any time adjusted so as to ..."

6. Dictionary of National Biography by LESLIE. STEPHEN (1887)
"Lawrence, with heads after the models of EH Baily and S. Joseph, the sculptors ; a medal of Cardinal Wiseman, dated 1830, with reverse, sacred emblems ..."

7. The Harvard Classics by Charles William Eliot (1910)
"So I devoted myself entirely to working out this reverse with the Moses on it. ... In course of time, however, I completed the reverse; and when I took it ..."

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