reverse

[Re*verse·]

To go in reverse, you back up. If you reverse your position, you suddenly take the opposite side of the argument. If you reverse your fortunes, your bad luck turns good, or your good luck turns bad. Oops.

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

Noun
turning in the opposite direction

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

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

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

Noun
an unfortunate happening that hinders of impedes; something that is thwarting or frustrating

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Noun
a relation of direct opposition; "we thought Sue was older than Bill but just the reverse was true"

Verb
change to the contrary; "The trend was reversed"; "the tides turned against him"; "public opinion turned when it was revealed that the president had an affair with a White House intern"

Verb
turn inside out or upside down

Verb
rule against; "The Republicans were overruled when the House voted on the bill"

Verb
annul by recalling or rescinding; "He revoked the ban on smoking"; "lift an embargo"; "vacate a death sentence"

Adjective S.
reversed (turned backward) in order or nature or effect

Adjective S.
directed or moving toward the rear; "a rearward glance"; "a rearward movement"

Adjective
of the transmission gear causing backward movement in a motor vehicle; "in reverse gear"

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

a.
Turned upside down; greatly disturbed.

a.
Reversed; as, a reverse shell.

a.
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.

a.
That which is directly opposite or contrary to something else; a contrary; an opposite.

a.
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.

a.
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.

a.
A thrust in fencing made with a backward turn of the hand; a backhanded stroke.

a.
A turn or fold made in bandaging, by which the direction of the bandage is changed.

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

a.
To cause to return; to recall.

a.
To change totally; to alter to the opposite.

a.
To turn upside down; to invert.

a.
Hence, to overthrow; to subvert.

a.
To overthrow by a contrary decision; to make void; to under or annual for error; as, to reverse a judgment, sentence, or decree.

v. i.
To return; to revert.

v. i.
To become or be reversed.

Reverse

Re*verse" , a. [OE. revers, OF. revers, L. reversus, p. p. of revertere. See 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." Gower. 2. Turned upside down; greatly disturbed. [Obs.]
He found the sea diverse With many a windy storm reverse.
3. (Bot. & Zo'94l.) 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.

Reverse

Re*verse" , n. [Cf. F. revers. See Reverse, a.] 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. Chaucer.
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.] Shak. 6. (Surg.) A turn or fold made in bandaging, by which the direction of the bandage is changed.

Reverse

Re*verse", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Reversed ;p. pr. & vb. n. Reversing.] [See Reverse, a., and cf. Revert.] 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'f8, and is held as in the illustration. -- To reverse an engine ∨ a machine, to cause it to perform its revolutions or action in the opposite direction. Syn. -- To overturn; overset; invert; overthrow; subvert; repeal; annul; revoke; undo.

Reverse

Re*verse", v. i. 1. To return; to revert. [Obs.] Spenser. 2. To become or be reversed.

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

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

To return; to revert.

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Usage Examples

It's good for everyone to understand that they are to love their enemies, simply because your enemies show you things about yourself you need to change. So in actuality enemies are friends in reverse.

You can say I had a severe case of 'Roots' envy. I wanted to be like Alex Haley, and I wanted to be able to... do my family tree back to the slave ship and then reverse the Middle Passage, as I like to put it, and find the tribe or ethnic group that I was from in Africa.

In South Africa, we could not have achieved our freedom and just peace without the help of people around the world, who through the use of non-violent means, such as boycotts and divestment, encouraged their governments and other corporate actors to reverse decades-long support for the Apartheid regime.

God created man in His own image, says the Bible philosophers reverse the process: they create God in theirs.

Actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness. By happiness is intended pleasure and the absence of pain.

You can have a lot of unhappiness by not having money, but the reverse is no guarantee of happiness.

Mr. Obama still has time to reverse course. A great deal depends on it. To fail on health care yet again might well be the 'Waterloo' Republicans dream of.

Misspelled Form

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Other Usage Examples

To do what we are doing in this budget to our children, cutting their health care funds, decreasing opportunity, simply so we can pay for tax cuts and a war in Iraq is beyond belief, and we need to reverse it.

One could write a history of science in reverse by assembling the solemn pronouncements of highest authority about what could not be done and could never happen.

A lot of people think, 'I'll give acting or poetry or filmmaking a try. And if it doesn't work out I'll go get a law degree, do something else that's more practical.' For me I went the reverse way. I lived the back-up plan.

I am concerned about how to reverse the process by which a fundamentalist right and a corporate elite were able to seize power in the United States.

A jealous lover of human liberty, deeming it the absolute condition of all that we admire and respect in humanity, I reverse the phrase of Voltaire, and say that, if God really existed, it would be necessary to abolish him.

Reverse every natural instinct and do the opposite of what you are inclined to do, and you will probably come very close to having a perfect golf swing.

Constant success shows us but one side of the world adversity brings out the reverse of the picture.