How to use reverse in a sentence

40 example sentences · adjective, adverb, noun

Reverse means opposite, contrary; going in the opposite direction. Example: “We ate the meal in reverse order, starting with dessert and ending with the starter.”

Examples of reverse by meaning

adjectiveOpposite, 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.

adjectivePertaining to engines, vehicle movement etc. moving in a direction opposite to the usual direction.

He selected reverse gear.

adjectiveReversed.

a reverse shell

nounThe opposite of something.

Division is the reverse of multiplication.
The Sun doesn't orbit the Earth—quite the reverse, in fact.

nounA piece of misfortune; a setback.

Simon Forman was notorious in his day, and was a many of many reverses.1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 156
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

nounThe 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!

verbTo 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

verbTo change totally; to alter to the opposite.

All trends reverse eventually.

More sentences with reverse

We've found that git reverts are at least an order of magnitude faster than SVN reverse merges.From the entry revert
The medal had a cross on the obverse and had a name inscribed on the reverse.From the entry obverse
Bethany and her friends reverse gangbanged her husband on his birthday.From the entry reverse gangbang
The Satanic message can be unmasked by playing the song in reverse.From the entry in reverse
When the officer approached the car, the driver put it in reverse and drove away.From the entry in reverse
This delivery is subject to reverse charge in the country of receipt.From the entry reverse charge
The reverse gear of a Ford Model T was engaged with a foot pedal.From the entry reverse gear
The phrase "computationally impractical to reverse" is a statistically improbable phrase found in the Bitcoin documentation.From the entry statistically improbable phrase
The backthrusting of tectonic plates can cause reverse faults in geological structures.From the entry backthrusting
The stocks of this fishery are recovering from overfishing, but the gains can easily reverse if our husbandry efforts lapse.From the entry stock
Spacecraft are engineering marvels, designed to resist the thrust of liftoff, as well as the reverse pressure of the void.From the entry thrust
In reverse gear the wheel turns backward.From the entry backward
(figuratively, by extension) Of a perspective, reversed or inverted.From the entry back to front
Use of maximum reverse thrust at low speeds can cause the engine to surge from ingesting its own exhaust.From the entry surge
Maxwell reverse swept a ball to seal the win.From the entry reverse sweep
A shutout is a reverse strike: the union complained and the workers wanted to work, but management was opposed.From the entry shutout
As usual, the newspapers got hold of the wrong end of the stick and stated the whole problem in reverse.From the entry wrong end of the stick
Do you prefer bent solid linings or kerfings in your guitar? If kerfings, would you like regular or reversed kerfing?From the entry kerfing
Depending on the variance of the type constructor, the subtyping relation of the simple types may be either preserved, reversed, or ignored for the respective complex types.From the entry variance
Once quantum computing is a reality, it may become possible to reverse hashed values.2025, Tanya Janca, Alice and Bob Learn Secure Coding, page 102 (eBook →ISBN) or page 76 (trade paperback →ISBN). From the entry that's it, send tweet
Many of the speakers and attendees see natalism as a way of reversing these changes.2024 April 28, Gaby Del Valle, “The Far Right’s Campaign to Explode the Population”, in POLITICO, archived from the original on 17 Aug 2024. From the entry attendee
This was about the same time that Holden started fitting seatbelts and reversing lights as standard equipment.2024, Steve Bedwell, “Holden HR”, in Holden Vs Ford Commemorative Edition, Rockpool, →ISBN. From the entry carby
Using the reversing camera, he whipped out the driveway then headed down the street.2024, Madi Leigh, chapter 7, in What Are The Odds?: A college hockey romance, →ISBN. From the entry reversing camera
Some aspects of contemporary progressivism look less like actual progress and more like a step in reverse.2023 November 16, Pamela Paul, “Progressives Aren’t Liberal”, in The New York Times. From the entry progressivism
He reversed the pushchair out of the shop and continued towards his errands.2022, Ian McEwan, Lessons, page 41. From the entry pushchair
That's why white racists scream "reverse racism," and transphobes cry for the rights of the "super-straights."2022 May 2, Ian D. Svetkey, “A White Man's Voice: The Role of the Privileged Actor”, in The Harvard Crimson, archived from the original on…. From the entry super straight
"You're coming in hotter than we'd like." "Roger that, Huygens, increasing reverse thrust by 20%."2021, Christine D. Shuck, G581: Mars. From the entry hot
I like how the Kia casually reverses and leaves the chat.2021 April 1, “Float like an idiot, sting like a Kia”, in Reddit, r/IdiotsInCars, archived from the original on 26 Mar 2024. From the entry leave the chat

Meaning of reverse

adjective Opposite, contrary; going in the opposite direction.
adjective Pertaining to engines, vehicle movement etc. moving in a direction opposite to the usual direction.
adjective To be in the non-default position; to be set for the lesser-used route.

Full definition of reverse

Questions about reverse in a sentence

How do you use reverse in a sentence?: Reverse is used as an adjective, adverb and noun. For example: “We ate the meal in reverse order, starting with dessert and ending with the starter.”
What is a short sentence with reverse?: “a reverse shell”
What does reverse mean?: Reverse means opposite, contrary; going in the opposite direction.

Adapted from Wiktionary: reverse (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use reverse in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/reverse. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.