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Reverse   /rɪvˈərs/  /rivˈərs/   Listen
noun
Reverse  n.  
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."
2.
That which is directly opposite or contrary to something else; a contrary; an opposite. "And then mistook reverse of wrong for right." "To make everything the reverse of what they have seen, is quite as easy as to destroy."
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." "By a reverse of fortune, Stephen becomes rich."
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. (Obs.)
6.
(Surg.) A turn or fold made in bandaging, by which the direction of the bandage is changed.


verb
Reverse  v. t.  (past & past part. reversed;pres. part. reversing)  
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."
2.
To cause to return; to recall. (Obs.) "And to his fresh remembrance did reverse The ugly view of his deformed crimes."
3.
To change totally; to alter to the opposite. "Reverse the doom of death." "She reversed the conduct of the celebrated vicar of Bray."
4.
To turn upside down; to invert. "A pyramid reversed may stand upon his point if balanced by admirable skill."
5.
Hence, to overthrow; to subvert. "These can divide, and these reverse, the state." "Custom... reverses even the distinctions of good and evil."
6.
(Law) 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 (Mil.), a position of a soldier in which the piece passes between the right elbow and the body at an angle of 45°, and is held as in the illustration.
To reverse an engine or To reverse a machine, to cause it to perform its revolutions or action in the opposite direction.
Synonyms: To overturn; overset; invert; overthrow; subvert; repeal; annul; revoke; undo.


Reverse  v. i.  
1.
To return; to revert. (Obs.)
2.
To become or be reversed.


adjective
Reverse  adj.  
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. (Obs.) "He found the sea diverse With many a windy storm reverse."
3.
(Bot. & Zool.) Reversed; as, a reverse shell.
Reverse bearing (Surv.), the bearing of a back station as observed from the station next in advance.
Reverse curve (Railways), a curve like the letter S, formed of two curves bending in opposite directions.
Reverse fire (Mil.), a fire in the rear.
Reverse operation (Math.), 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.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Reverse" Quotes from Famous Books



... the contemporary, but scarcely the friend, of Lord Byron. No two characters could have been more unlike. Every one knows, more or less, what Byron's was; it need only be said that Hook's was the reverse of it in every respect. Byron felt where Hook laughed. Byron was morbid where Hook was gay. Byron abjured with disgust the social vices to which he was introduced; Hook fell in with them. Byron indulged in vice in a romantic way; Hook in the coarsest. There is some excuse for Byron, much as ...
— The Wits and Beaux of Society - Volume 2 • Grace & Philip Wharton
... Shakespeare closed his life on earth'—we have obtained a piece of knowledge which is both interesting and pleasant. But if it be not true, if, on the contrary, it can be shown that something very different was actually the case, then will it not follow that we must not only reverse our judgment as to this particular point, but also readjust our view of the whole drift and bearing of Shakespeare's ...
— Books and Characters - French and English • Lytton Strachey
... Molineux and Davis on the reverse side of the entrenchments, both brigades began moving off, under Emory's orders, by the right flank to take position near Belle Grove on the right of Ricketts's division of the Sixth Corps, which had come up and was trying to extend ...
— History of the Nineteenth Army Corps • Richard Biddle Irwin
... Dane, or the Frenchman, were discovered to be a fictitious personage, and all the genius, or all the rant, to have really emanated from the English gentleman, or lady, who had merely professed to translate—presto! how the book would instantly change colours! What a reverse of judgment would there be! What secret misgivings would now be detected and proclaimed! What sudden outpourings of epithets by no means complimentary! How the boldness of many a metaphor would be transformed into sheer impudence! How the profundities would clear up, leaving only darkness ...
— Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine - Volume 62, No. 384, October 1847 • Various
... Miss Graham against me. The difference between my sister and me,' she added, turning to Gladys, 'is that Clara is always proper and conventional, and I am the reverse. You can never catch her unawares or in an untidy gown, she is always just as immaculate as you see her now; while I am—well, just as the spirit moves me.' She swept a little mocking courtesy to her sister, who only smiled and shook her head, then taking ...
— The Guinea Stamp - A Tale of Modern Glasgow • Annie S. Swan


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