Definition of "opposite number" [opposite number]

• A person who holds a position in an organization or system corresponding to that of a person in another organization or system; a counterpart: "had a face-to-face . . . conference with his opposite number at the American Embassy” ( Frederick Forsyth). (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "“Pelly did very badly, first in not carrying out the orders to engage his opposite number which had disastrous results [the crippling of the Lion],” he conceded to Jellicoe."
• "Together with a certain Lord Whitley, his opposite number in the Home Office, Dalziel was responsible for all covert operations both within England and beyond its borders."
• "Lieutenant Leach's 1 Platoon in November Company, like its opposite number in Oscar, had its back to the wall from the start of the attack by 290th MRR's IM Battalion; but unlike the men in Blickheim, found itself almost alone at first in holding its ground."