/ rɪˈvɜːs; NAmE rɪˈvɜːrs/ verb , noun , adjective
■ verb
CHANGE TO OPPOSITE
1.
[ vn ] to change sth completely so that it is the opposite of what it was before :
to reverse a procedure / process / trend
The government has failed to reverse the economic decline.
It is sometimes possible to arrest or reverse the disease.
2.
[ vn ] to change a previous decision, law, etc. to the opposite one
SYN revoke :
The Court of Appeal reversed the decision.
3.
[ vn ] to turn sth the opposite way around or change the order of sth around :
Writing is reversed in a mirror.
You should reverse the order of these pages.
EXCHANGE TWO THINGS
4.
[ vn ] to exchange the positions or functions of two things :
It felt as if we had reversed our roles of parent and child.
She used to work for me, but our situations are now reversed.
YOURSELF
5.
[ vn ] reverse yourself (on sth) ( NAmE ) to admit you were wrong or to stop having a particular position in an argument :
He has reversed himself on a dozen issues.
VEHICLE
6.
( especially BrE ) when a vehicle or its driver reverses or the driver reverses a vehicle, the vehicle goes backwards :
[ vn ]
Now reverse the car.
[ v ]
He reversed around the corner.
She reversed into a parking space.
Caution! This truck is reversing.
—compare back verb
TELEPHONE CALL
7.
[ vn ] reverse (the) charges ( BrE ) to make a telephone call that will be paid for by the person you are calling, not by you :
I want to reverse the charges, please.
—see also collect adjective
■ noun
OPPOSITE
1.
the reverse [ sing. ] the opposite of what has just been mentioned :
This problem is the reverse of the previous one.
Although I expected to enjoy living in the country, in fact the reverse is true .
In the south, the reverse applies.
It wasn't easy to persuade her to come— quite the reverse .
BACK
2.
the reverse [ sing. ] the back of a coin, piece of material, piece of paper, etc.
IN VEHICLE
3.
(also reˌverse ˈgear ) [ U ] the machinery in a vehicle used to make it move backwards :
Put the car in / into reverse .
LOSS / DEFEAT
4.
[ C ] ( formal ) a loss or defeat; a change from success to failure
SYN setback :
Property values have suffered another reverse.
a damaging political reverse
•
IDIOMS
- in reverse
- go / put sth into reverse
■ adjective
[ only before noun ]
OPPOSITE
1.
opposite to what has been mentioned :
to travel in the reverse direction
The winners were announced in reverse order (= the person in the lowest place was announced first) .
The experiment had the reverse effect to what was intended.
BACK
2.
opposite to the front :
Iron the garment on the reverse side.
••
WORD ORIGIN
Middle English : from Old French revers , reverse (nouns), reverser (verb), from Latin reversus turned back, past participle of revertere , from re- back + vertere to turn.