reverse
verb/rɪˈvɜːs/
/rɪˈvɜːrs/
Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they reverse | /rɪˈvɜːs/ /rɪˈvɜːrs/ |
| he / she / it reverses | /rɪˈvɜːsɪz/ /rɪˈvɜːrsɪz/ |
| past simple reversed | /rɪˈvɜːst/ /rɪˈvɜːrst/ |
| past participle reversed | /rɪˈvɜːst/ /rɪˈvɜːrst/ |
| -ing form reversing | /rɪˈvɜːsɪŋ/ /rɪˈvɜːrsɪŋ/ |
- [transitive] reverse something to change something completely so that it is the opposite of what it was before
- Falling birth rates may reverse the trend towards early retirement.
- to reverse a procedure/process
- The government has failed to reverse the economic decline.
- It is sometimes possible to arrest or reverse the disease.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- dramatically
- completely
- exactly
- …
- seek to
- try to
- fail to
- …
Definitions on the go
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- [transitive] reverse something to change a previous decision, law, etc. to the opposite one synonym revoke
- The Court of Appeal reversed the decision.
- The policy is likely to be reversed if there is a change of government.
- to reverse a judgement
- [transitive] reverse something to turn something the opposite way around or change the order of something around
- Writing is reversed in a mirror.
- You should reverse the order of these pages.
- To solve the puzzle, simply reverse the order of the numbers.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- dramatically
- completely
- exactly
- …
- seek to
- try to
- fail to
- …
- [transitive] reverse something 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.
- [transitive] reverse yourself (on something) (North American English) to admit you were wrong or to stop having a particular position in an argument
- He has reversed himself on a dozen issues.
- [intransitive, transitive] (especially British English) when a vehicle or its driver reverses or the driver reverses a vehicle, the vehicle goes backwards
- He reversed around the corner.
- She reversed into a parking space.
- Caution! This truck is reversing.
- reverse something Now reverse the car.
Extra ExamplesTopics Transport by car or lorryc1- He reversed slowly out of the garage.
- She carefully reversed the lorry up the narrow driveway.
- The car reversed into a hedge.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- slowly
- in
- out
- …
- into
- out of
- [transitive] reverse (the) charges (British English) to make a phone call that will be paid for by the person you are calling, not by you
- I want to reverse the charges, please.
change to opposite
exchange two things
yourself
vehicle
phone call
Word OriginMiddle English: from Old French revers, reverse (nouns), reverser (verb), from Latin reversus ‘turned back’, past participle of revertere, from re- ‘back’ + vertere ‘to turn’.
Check pronunciation:
reverse