June 23, 2016

reverse

To reverse something is to do the opposite or go in the opposite direction.

• The ship reversed course by going north instead of south.
• The candidate reversed his position on the issue of gun control following a shooting.
• The company reversed its decision to open up a new factory in Indonesia. Instead, it has chosen to stay in the United States.

In these sentences, "reverse" is a noun:

• Put the car into reverse when backing out of a parking space.
• It’s not easy to drive in reverse.
• Instead of going to Hawaii on vacation, they did the reverse and stayed home.

You can also use the word "reverse" as an adjective:

• Bernie and Wendy are using a reverse mortgage to help fund their retirement. (This sentence uses the noun "reverse" as an adjective to describe the word "mortgage.")
• On the reverse side of a penny is an image of the Lincoln Memorial.
• You can do a reverse search on a phone number to find the identity of a person who is calling you.

The word "reversible" is an adjective. It’s often used for clothing.

• This shirt is reversible. On one side it’s red, on the other side it’s blue with white stripes.
• I have a reversible belt. One side is brown; the other side is black.

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