Definition of "opposite" []

• Placed or located directly across from something else or from each other: opposite sides of a building. (adjective)
• Facing the other way; moving or tending away from each other: opposite directions. (adjective)
• Being the other of two complementary or mutually exclusive things: the opposite sex; an opposite role to the lead in the play. (adjective)
• Altogether different, as in nature, quality, or significance: The effect of the medication was opposite to that intended. (adjective)
• Sharply contrasting; antithetical: had opposite views on the subject. (adjective)

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.

• "But with copper, and substances not sensible to ordinary magnetic impressions, _similar_ poles on opposite sides of the plate neutralize each other; _opposite_ poles exalt the action; and a single pole at the edge or end on does nothing."
• "What kind of mother looks at her newborn and gives her a name opposite of who she is?"
• "I've been working on this for a while now, trying to advancebetter language that avoids the term opposite-sex for men and women, who differ by degrees -- and doesn't presume men and women married to each other are heterosexual."