Word.ws English Dictionary

reverse

Syllables: re·verseUK/ɹɪˈvɜːs//ɹɪˈvɝs/

reverse adjective: opposite, contrary; going in the opposite direction. Also the ellipsis of reverse-engineer.

Adjective

reverse (not comparable)

  1. Opposite, contrary; going in the opposite direction.
    • 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.
    • He selected reverse gear.
  3. To be in the non-default position; to be set for the lesser-used route.
  4. Turned upside down; greatly disturbed.
  5. Reversed.
    • a reverse shell
  6. In which cDNA synthetization is obtained from an RNA template.

Adverb

reverse (not comparable)

  1. (archaic) In a reverse way or direction; in reverse; upside-down.
    • The man was killed to feed his image fat / Within this pictured world that ran reverse, / Where miracles alone were ever plain.1963, Donal Serrell Thomas, Points of Contact
    Synonyms:
    upside down

Noun

reverse (plural reverses)

  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.
    • By a reverse of fortune, Stephen becomes rich.1808, Charles Lamb, Specimens of the English Dramatic Poets Who Lived About the Time of Shakespeare
  3. A piece of misfortune; a setback.
    • And the cold truth such sad reverse did seem
      As to awake in grief from some delightful dream.1817 December, Percy Bysshe Shelley, “The Revolt of Islam. […]”, in [Mary] Shelley, editor, The Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley. […], volume I, London: Edward Moxon […], published 1839, →OCLC...
    • Simon Forman was notorious in his day, and was a many of many reverses.1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 156
  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!
    Synonyms:
    reverse gear
  7. A thrust in fencing made with a backward turn of the hand; a backhanded stroke.
    • but first , master see thee pass thy punto , thy stock , thy reverse , thy guestc. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
  8. A turn or fold made in bandaging, by which the direction of the bandage is changed.
  9. Synonym of transpose.
    Synonyms:
    transpose

Verb

reverse (third-person singular simple present reverses, present participle reversing, simple past and past participle reversed)

  1. (transitive) To turn something around so that it faces the opposite direction or runs in the opposite sequence.
    • to reverse the order of books on a shelf
    • to reverse a portion of video footage
  2. (transitive) To turn something inside out or upside down.
    • A pyramid reversed may stand upon his point if balanced by admirable skill.1672, William Temple, Essay on the Original and Nature of Government
  3. (transitive) To transpose the positions of two things.
  4. (transitive) To change totally; to alter to the opposite.
    • All trends reverse eventually.
    • Reverse the doom of death.c. 1588–1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac...
  5. (intransitive, obsolete) To return, come back.
    • Bene they all dead, and laide in dolefull herse? / Or doen they onely sleepe, and shall againe reuerse?1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto IV”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC
  6. (obsolete, transitive) To turn away; to cause to depart.
    • And that old dame said many an idle verse, / Out of her daughter's heart fond fancies to reverse.1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto II”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 48
  7. (obsolete, transitive) To cause to return; to recall.
    • And to his fresh remembrance did reverse / The ugly view of his deformd crimes.1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto IX”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 48
  8. To revoke a law, or to change a decision into its opposite.
    • to reverse a judgment, sentence, or decree
    • From March 30, LNER was running around 40% of its trains and had suspended its Aberdeen, Inverness and Hull services, although it reversed the latter decision after Hull Trains suspended operations.2020 April 8, “Network News: Emergency timetables and the number of services cut”, in Rail, page 15
  9. (ergative) 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.
    • Richardson dropped into the six-foot between the two engines, ran for a few yards, grabbed Mitchell's engine, and swung himself up. Mitchell had got to his feet by this time, but he made no move. Richardson shut off steam, reversed her, and brought her to a stand.1950 January, David L. Smith, “A Runaway at Beattock”, in Railway Magazine, page 54
    • Passengers said the train had to reverse from Hsinshih (新市) in Tainan County to Liuchiao (六腳) in Chiayi County before moving forward again.2007 July 9, “Glitch with switch sends high speed rail back and forth”, in Taipei Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 15 Jul 2007, Taiwan News, page 2
  10. To change the direction of a reaction such that the products become the reactants and vice-versa.
  11. (transitive) To place (a set of points) in the reverse position.
  12. (intransitive) To move from the normal position to the reverse position.
  13. (transitive) To engage reverse thrust on (an engine).
  14. To overthrow; to subvert.
    • These can divide, and these reverse, the state.c. 1699 – 1703, Alexander Pope, “The First Book of Statius His Thebais”, in The Works of Mr. Alexander Pope, volume I, London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintot, […], published 1717, →OCLC
    • Custom […] reverses even the distinctions of good and evil.a. 1729, John Rogers, Conformity to the World destructive of our Happiness

Also used as

reverse is also the ellipsis of reverse-engineer.

reverse meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Telugu

reverse in Hindi

having the order of its constituents moved backwards
उल्टा ulṭā, विलोमित vilomit, विपरीत viprīt
opposite of something — see also opposite
विलोमित vilomit, विपरीत viprīt
to turn something around
पलटना palaṭnā

reverse in Tamil

தலைகீழாக மாறுதல், தலைகீழாக மாற்றுதல், தலைகீழாக மாற்ற

reverse in Urdu

الٹنا, الٹا کرنا

reverse in Telugu

రివర్స్, తిప్పికొట్టడానికి
More languagesFewer languages
reverse in Kannada
ರಿವರ್ಸ್, ಹಿಮ್ಮುಖ, ಹಿಮ್ಮುಖವಾಗಲು
reverse in Punjabi
ਉਲਟਣ ਲਈ, ਉਲਟਾ ਕਰਨ ਲਈ
reverse in Gujarati
રિવર્સ, ઉલટાવી દો, રિવર્સ કરવા માટે
reverse in Odia
ଓଲଟା, ଓଲଟପାଲଟ କରିବା ପାଇଁ
reverse in Nepali
उल्टाउने, उल्टो गर्न, उल्टाउन
reverse in Tagalog
kabaligtaran
reverse in Arabic
عَكَسَ ‘akasa
reverse in Persian
برعکس bar'aks
reverse in Vietnamese
ngược, số de, hoán đổi, tráo

Examples of reverse in a sentence

  • 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, published 2010, page 309:
  • They reversed the conduct of the celebrated vicar of Bray.1815 February 24, [Walter Scott], Guy Mannering; or, The Astrologer. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] James...

All 40 example sentences with reverse

Synonyms of reverse

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of reverse

Forms of reverse

Noun
pluralreverses
Verb
third-person singular presentreverses
present participlereversing
past participlereversed
pastreversed

Past tense of reverse: reversed

Plural of reverse: reverses

Origin of reverse

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.

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

Words formed from reverse

Phrases with reverse

108 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with reverse

36 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about reverse

What does reverse mean?
Reverse means opposite, contrary; going in the opposite direction.
What is reverse in Hindi?
Reverse in Hindi is उल्टा (ulṭā), विलोमित (vilomit), विपरीत (viprīt). See Reverse meaning in Hindi.
How do you use reverse in a sentence?
In fact, though the Russians did not yet know it, the British had met with a reverse.
What part of speech is reverse?
Reverse can be an adjective, an adverb, a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce reverse?
Reverse is pronounced /ɹɪˈvɜːs/ (UK).

Words near reverse in the dictionary

  1. reversally
  2. reversals
  3. reversative
  4. reversatives
  5. reversatrol
  6. reverse
  7. reverse 911 call
  8. reverse 911 calls
  9. reverse Advent calendar
  10. reverse Advent calendars
  11. reverse anorexia nervosa

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: reverse (page history and authors); reverse (Tamil, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); reverse (Urdu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); reverse (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); reverse (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); reverse (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); reverse (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); reverse (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); reverse (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-reverse.ogg.

Cite this entry: “reverse.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/reverse. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.