Hypertext Webster Gateway: "Opposite"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Opposite \Op"po*site\, a. [F., fr. L. oppositus, p. p. of
opponere. See {Opponent}.]
1. Placed over against; standing or situated over against or
in front; facing; -- often with to; as, a house opposite
to the Exchange.
2. Applied to the other of two things which are entirely
different; other; as, the opposite sex; the opposite
extreme.
3. Extremely different; inconsistent; contrary; repugnant;
antagonistic.
Novels, by which the reader is misled into another
sort of pieasure opposite to that which is designed
in an epic poem. --Dryden.
Particles of speech have divers, and sometimes
almost opposite, significations. --Locke.
4. (Bot.)
(a) Set over against each other, but separated by the
whole diameter of the stem, as two leaves at the same
node.
(b) Placed directly in front of another part or organ, as
a stamen which stands before a petal.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Opposite \Op"po*site\, n.
1. One who opposes; an opponent; an antagonist. [Obs.]
The opposites of this day's strife. --Shak.
2. That which is opposed or contrary; as, sweetness and its
opposite.
The virtuous man meets with more opposites and
opponents than any other. --Landor.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
opposite
adj 1: being directly across from each other; facing; "And I on the
opposite shore will be, ready to ride and spread the
alarm"- Longfellow; "we lived on opposite sides of the
street"; "at opposite poles"
2: (botany) of leaves etc; growing in pairs on either side of a
stem; "opposite leaves" [syn: {paired}] [ant: {alternate}]
3: moving or facing away from each other; "looking in opposite
directions"; "they went in opposite directions"
4: the other one of a complementary pair; "the opposite sex";
"the two chess kings are set up on squares of opposite
colors"
5: altogether different in nature or quality or significance;
"the medicine's effect was opposite to that intended"; "it
is said that opposite characters make a union happiest"-
Charles Reade
6: characterized by opposite extremes; completely opposed; "in
diametric contradiction to his claims"; "diametrical (or
opposite) points of view"; "opposite meanings"; "extreme
and indefensible polar positions" [syn: {diametric}, {diametrical},
{polar}]
n 1: two words that express opposing concepts; "to him the
opposite of gay was depressed" [syn: {antonym}, {opposite
word}]
2: a relation of direct opposition; "we thought Sue was older
than Bill but just the reverse was true" [syn: {reverse},
{contrary}]
3: a contestant that you are matched against [syn: {opposition},
{opponent}]
4: something inverted in sequence or character or effect; "when
the direct approach failed he tried the inverse" [syn: {inverse}]
adv : directly facing each other; "the two photographs lay
face-to-face on the table"; "lived all their lives in
houses face-to-face across the street"; "they sat
opposite at the table" [syn: {face-to-face}]
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