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ADVERSARY
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I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Someone who offers opposition
Synonyms:
adversary; antagonist; opponent; opposer; resister
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("adversary" is a kind of...):
individual; mortal; person; somebody; someone; soul (a human being)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "adversary"):
dueler; duelist; dueller; duellist (a person who fights duels)
enemy; foe; foeman; opposition (an armed adversary (especially a member of an opposing military force))
Luddite (any opponent of technological progress)
withstander (an opponent who resists with force or resolution)
Instance hyponyms:
Antichrist ((Christianity) the adversary of Christ (or Christianity) mentioned in the New Testament; the Antichrist will rule the world until overthrown by the Second Coming of Christ)
Context examples:
But Harrison still took them all with the same dogged smile, occasionally getting in a hard body-blow in return, for his adversary’s height and his position combined to keep his face out of danger.
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
For instance, in the case already mentioned; they never desire to know what claim or title my adversary has to my cow; but whether the said cow were red or black; her horns long or short; whether the field I graze her in be round or square; whether she was milked at home or abroad; what diseases she is subject to, and the like; after which they consult precedents, adjourn the cause from time to time, and in ten, twenty, or thirty years, come to an issue.
(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)
I did not weep, but I knelt down and with a full heart thanked my guiding spirit for conducting me in safety to the place where I hoped, notwithstanding my adversary’s gibe, to meet and grapple with him.
(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
Sir Nigel sprang to his feet with his bloody dagger in his left hand and gazed down upon his adversary, but that fatal and sudden stab in the vital spot, which the Spaniard had exposed by raising his arm, had proved instantly mortal.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
All could see the three inches extra of height and two of reach which Wilson possessed, and a glance at the quick, cat-like motions of his feet, and the perfect poise of his body upon his legs, showed how swiftly he could spring either in or out from his slower adversary.
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
I resolved, therefore, that if my immediate union with my cousin would conduce either to hers or my father’s happiness, my adversary’s designs against my life should not retard it a single hour.
(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
The times were changed, however, and the forest tracks wound away from them deserted and silent, with no trample of war-horse or clang of armor which might herald the approach of an adversary—so that Sir Nigel rode on his way disconsolate.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
I was anxious and watchful, while my right hand grasped a pistol which was hidden in my bosom; every sound terrified me, but I resolved that I would sell my life dearly and not shrink from the conflict until my own life or that of my adversary was extinguished.
(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
In the final bout, however, Sir Nigel struck his opponent with so true an aim that the point of the lance caught between the bars of his vizor and tore the front of his helmet out, while the German, aiming somewhat low, and half stunned by the shock, had the misfortune to strike his adversary upon the thigh, a breach of the rules of the tilting-yard, by which he not only sacrificed his chances of success, but would also have forfeited his horse and his armor, had the English knight chosen to claim them.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Great God! If for one instant I had thought what might be the hellish intention of my fiendish adversary, I would rather have banished myself for ever from my native country and wandered a friendless outcast over the earth than have consented to this miserable marriage.
(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
