reverse

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. adj. Turned backward in position, direction, or order.
2. adj. Having the back showing or in view of the observer.
3. adj. Moving, acting, or organized in a manner contrary to the usual.
4. adj. Causing backward movement: a reverse gear.
5. adj. Printing Printed in such a way that the normally colored part appears white against a colored or black background.
6. n. The opposite or contrary: All along we thought Sue was older than Bill, but just the reverse was true.
7. n. The back or rear part.
8. n. The side of a coin or medal that does not carry the principal design; the verso.
9. n. A change to an opposite position, condition, or direction.
10. n. A change in fortune from better to worse; a setback: suffered financial reverses.
11. n. A mechanism, such as a gear in a motor vehicle, that is used to reverse movement.
12. n. The position or operating condition of such a mechanism.
13. n. Movement in an opposite direction.
14. n. Football An offensive play in which a back running in one direction executes a handoff to a back running in the opposite direction.
15. v. To turn around to the opposite direction.
16. v. To turn inside out or upside down.
17. v. To exchange the positions of; transpose.
18. v. Law To revoke or annul (a decision or decree, for example).
19. v. To cause to adopt a contrary viewpoint.
20. v. To change to the opposite: reversed their planned course of action.
21. v. To cause (an engine or a mechanism) to function in reverse.
22. v. To turn or move in the opposite direction.
23. v. To reverse the action of an engine.
24. idiom. reverse (one's) field To turn and proceed in the opposite direction.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. To turn about, around, or upside down; put in an opposite or contrary position; turn in an opposite direction, or through 180°; invert.
2. In machinery, to cause to revolve or act in a contrary direction; give an exactly opposite motion or action to, as the crank of an engine, or that part to which the piston-rod is attached.—
3. In general, to alter to the opposite; change diametrically the state, relations, or bearings of.
4. To overturn; upset; throw into confusion.
5. To overthrow; set aside; make void; annul; repeal; revoke: as, to reverse a judgment, sentence, or decree.
6. To turn back; drive away; banish.
7. To cause to return; bring back; recall.
8. Synonyms To invert.
9. To rescind, countermand.
10. To change position, direction, motion, or action to the opposite; specifically, in round dances, to turn or revolve in a direction contrary to that previously taken: as, to reverse in waltzing.
11. To be overturned; fall over.
12. To turn back; return; come back.
13. Turned backward; opposite or contrary in position or direction; reversed: as, the reverse end of a lance; reverse curves; reverse motion.
14. Two points are said to be reverse of each other, with reference to two fixed origins and two fixed axes, when the line through the first origin and the first point meets the first axis at the point where the line through the second origin and the second point meets the same axis, while the line through the first origin and the second point meets the second axis at the same point where the line through the second origin and the first point meets the same axis.
15. Contrary or opposite in nature, effects, or relations: as, a reverse order or method.
16. Overturned; overthrown.
17. Upset; tossed about; thrown into confusion.
18. In conchology, same as reversed, 5.
19. n. Reversal; a change to an opposite form, state, or condition; a complete alteration.
20. n. A complete change or turn of affairs; a vicissitude; a change of fortune, particularly for the worse; hence, adverse fortune; a misfortune; a calamity or blow; a defeat.
21. n. In fencing, a back-handed stroke; a blow from a direction contrary to that usually taken; a thrust from left to right.
22. n. That which is presented when anything, as a lance, gun, etc., is reversed, or turned in the direction opposite to what is considered its natural position.
23. n. That which is directly opposite or contrary; the contrary; the opposite: generally with the.
24. n. In numismatics, the back or inferior side of a coin or medal, as opposed to the obverse, the face or principal side. The reverse generally displays a design or an inscription; the obverse, a head. Usually abbreviated Rev. or ŧ. See cuts under numismatics, pie, and pistole.
25. n. In heraldry, the exact contrary of what has been described just before as an escutcheon or a quartering. An early form of heraldic difference is the giving to a younger branch the reverse of the arms of the elder branch: thus, if the original escutcheon is argent a chevron gules, a younger son takes the reverse, namely gules a chevron argent.
26. n. Same as reversetwist.

Wiktionary

1. adj. rail transport, of points to be in the non-default position; to be set for the lesser-used route.
2. v. intransitive To turn something around such that it faces in the opposite direction.
3. v. intransitive To turn something inside out or upside down.
4. v. intransitive To transpose the positions of two things.
5. v. obsolete, intransitive To return, come back.
6. v. law To revoke a law, or to change a decision into its opposite.
7. v. ergative To cause a mechanism or a vehicle to operate or move in the opposite direction.
8. v. chemistry To change the direction of a reaction such that the products become the reactants and vice-versa.
9. v. rail transport, transitive To place a set of points in the reverse position
10. v. rail transport, intransitive, of points to move from the normal position to the reverse position

GNU Webster's 1913

1. adj. Turned backward; having a contrary or opposite direction; hence; opposite or contrary in kind.
2. adj. obsolete Turned upside down; greatly disturbed.
3. adj. (Bot. & Zoöl.) Reversed.
4. n. 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.
5. n. That which is directly opposite or contrary to something else; a contrary; an opposite.
6. n. 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.
7. n. The back side. See Obverse.
8. n. obsolete A thrust in fencing made with a backward turn of the hand; a backhanded stroke.
9. n. (Surg.) A turn or fold made in bandaging, by which the direction of the bandage is changed.
10. v. To turn back; to cause to face in a contrary direction; to cause to depart.
11. v. obsolete To cause to return; to recall.
12. v. To change totally; to alter to the opposite.
13. v. To turn upside down; to invert.
14. v. Hence, to overthrow; to subvert.
15. v. (Law) To overthrow by a contrary decision; to make void; to under or annual for error.
16. v. obsolete To return; to revert.
17. v. To become or be reversed.

WordNet 3.0

1. adj. reversed (turned backward) in order or nature or effect
2. n. turning in the opposite direction
3. v. cancel officially
4. v. change to the contrary
5. n. (American football) a running play in which a back running in one direction hands the ball to a back running in the opposite direction
6. v. turn inside out or upside down
7. v. reverse the position, order, relation, or condition of
8. n. an unfortunate happening that hinders or impedes; something that is thwarting or frustrating
9. n. the gears by which the motion of a machine can be reversed
10. adj. of the transmission gear causing backward movement in a motor vehicle
11. n. the side of a coin or medal that does not bear the principal design
12. v. rule against
13. n. a relation of direct opposition
14. adj. directed or moving toward the rear