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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

reverse.

Opposite, contrary; going in the opposite direction.

7 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

adj/ɹɪˈvɜːs/UK/ɹɪˈvɝs/US
  1. Opposite, contrary; going in the opposite direction.

    not-comparable
    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.
  2. Pertaining to engines, vehicle movement etc. moving in a direction opposite to the usual direction.

    not-comparable
    He selected reverse gear.
  3. To be in the non-default position; to be set for the lesser-used route.

    not-comparable
  4. Turned upside down; greatly disturbed.

    not-comparable
  5. Reversed.

    not-comparable
    a reverse shell
  6. In which cDNA synthetization is obtained from an RNA template.

    not-comparable
Where this word comes from

From Middle English revers, from Anglo-Norman revers, Middle French revers, and their source, Latin reversus, perfect passive participle of reversō, from re- + versō. Doublet of revers.

adv/ɹɪˈvɜːs/UK/ɹɪˈvɝs/US
  1. In a reverse way or direction; in reverse; upside-down.

    archaic · not-comparable
Where this word comes from

From Middle English revers, from Anglo-Norman revers, Middle French revers, and their source, Latin reversus, perfect passive participle of reversō, from re- + versō. Doublet of revers.

noun/ɹɪˈvɜːs/UK/ɹɪˈvɝs/US
  1. The opposite of something.

    Division is the reverse of multiplication.
    The Sun doesn't orbit the Earth—quite the reverse, in fact.
  2. The act of going backwards; a reversal.

  3. A piece of misfortune; a setback.

  4. The tails side of a coin, or the side of a medal or badge that is opposite the obverse.

  5. The side of something facing away from a viewer, or from what is considered the front; the other side.

  6. The gear setting of an automobile that makes it travel backwards. (Denoted with symbol R on a shifter's labeling.)

    I shifted into reverse and was just about to back up when our silly cat walked behind the car! Honk honk, kitty! Get out of there!
  7. A thrust in fencing made with a backward turn of the hand; a backhanded stroke.

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

  9. Synonym of transpose.

Where this word comes from

From Middle English revers, from Anglo-Norman revers, Middle French revers, and their source, Latin reversus, perfect passive participle of reversō, from re- + versō. Doublet of revers.

verb/ɹɪˈvɜːs/UK/ɹɪˈvɝs/US
  1. To turn something around so that it faces the opposite direction or runs in the opposite sequence.

    transitive
    to reverse the order of books on a shelf
    to reverse a portion of video footage
  2. To turn something inside out or upside down.

    transitive
  3. To transpose the positions of two things.

    transitive
  4. To change totally; to alter to the opposite.

    transitive
    All trends reverse eventually.
  5. To return, come back.

    intransitive · obsolete
  6. To turn away; to cause to depart.

    obsolete · transitive
  7. To cause to return; to recall.

    obsolete · transitive
  8. To revoke a law, or to change a decision into its opposite.

    to reverse a judgment, sentence, or decree
  9. To cause a mechanism to operate or move in the opposite direction to normal; to drive a vehicle in the direction the driver has the back.

    ergative
  10. To change the direction of a reaction such that the products become the reactants and vice-versa.

  11. To place (a set of points) in the reverse position.

    transitive
  12. To move from the normal position to the reverse position.

    intransitive
  13. To engage reverse thrust on (an engine).

    transitive
  14. To overthrow; to subvert.

  15. Ellipsis of reverse-engineer.

    abbreviation · alt-of · ellipsis
Where this word comes from

From Middle English reversen, from Anglo-Norman reverser, Middle French reverser, and their source, Latin reversō, from re- + versō.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.