Invert

/ɪnˈvɜːt/ · verb

Meaning

(transitive) To turn (something) upside down or inside out; to place in a contrary order or direction..

Definitions by Sense

1. (transitive) To turn (something) upside down or inside out; to place in a contrary order or direction.
2. (transitive, music) To move (the root note of a chord) up or down an octave, resulting in a change in pitch.
3. (chemistry, intransitive) To undergo inversion, as sugar.
4. To divert; to convert to a wrong use.
5. (anatomy) To turn (the foot) inwards.
6. (architecture) An inverted arch (as in a sewer).
7. The base of a tunnel on which the road or railway may be laid and used when construction is through unstable ground. It may be flat or form a continuous curve with the tunnel arch.
8. (civil engineering) The lowest point inside a pipe at a certain point.

Example Sentences

to invert a cup, the order of words, rules of justice, etc.

That doth invert the attest of eyes and ears, / As if these organs had deceptious functions.

Seldom, alas! the power of logic reigns / With much ſufficiency in royal brains. / Such reaſ'ning falls like an inverted cone, / Wanting its proper baſe to ſtand upon.

[H]e had miſgouerned the ſtate, inuerted his treaſures to his owne priuat […]

We can seldom, therefore, congratulate ourselves on the success of any "cure" of inversion. The success is unlikely to be either permanent or complete, in the case of a decided invert; and in the most successful cases we have simply put into the invert's hands a power of reproduction which it is undesirable he should possess.

invert sugar

Synonyms for invert

Antonyms for invert

Related Words

Word Forms

• inverts
• inverting
• inverted

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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