v., -posed, -pos·ing, -pos·es. v.tr.
- To be in contention or conflict with: oppose the enemy force.
- To be resistant to: opposes new ideas.
- To place opposite in contrast or counterbalance.
- To place so as to be opposite something else.
To act or be in opposition.
idiom:as opposed to
- In contrast to: “a Baroque violin that … uses gut strings as opposed to metal-wound ones” (William Zagorski).
[Middle English opposen, to question, interrogate, from Old French opposer, alteration (influenced by poser, to place) of Latin oppōnere, to oppose (ob-, against; see ob– + pōnere, to put).]
opposer op·pos'er n.SYNONYMS oppose, fight, combat, resist, withstand, contest. These verbs mean to set someone or something in opposition to another: Oppose has the widest application: opposed the building of a nuclear power plant. “The idea is inconsistent with our constitutional theory and has been stubbornly opposed … since the early days of the Republic” (E.B. White). Fight and combat suggest vigor and aggressiveness: “All my life I have fought against prejudice and intolerance” (Harry S. Truman). “We are not afraid … to tolerate any error so long as reason is left free to combat it” (Thomas Jefferson). To resist is to strive to fend off or offset the actions, effects, or force of: “Pardon was freely extended to all who had resisted the invasion” (John R. Green). Withstand often implies successful resistance: “Neither the southern provinces, nor Sicily, could have withstood his power” (Henry Hallam). To contest is to call something into question and take an active stand against it: contested her neighbor's claims to her property in court.
