arsy-versy
/ (ˈɑːsɪˈvɜːsɪ) /
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adverb slang
backwards or upside down
in reverse
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QUIZ YOURSELF ON "WAS" VS. "WERE"!
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“Was” is used for the indicative past tense of “to be,” and “were” is only used for the subjunctive past tense.
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Word Origin for arsy-versy
C16: from arse + Latin versus turned, modelled on compounds like hurly-burly
Words nearby arsy-versy
arsonist, arsphenamine, ars poetica, arsy, arsy-varsy, arsy-versy, art, artal, Artaud, Artaxerxes I, Artaxerxes II
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Example sentences from the Web for arsy-versy
One may reflect, for example, upon the way the woman's suffrage contro- versy has been conducted.
The Unexpurgated Case Against Women Suffrage|Almroth E. WrightProb'ly they're center-fire ca'tridges for rim-fire guns, or vicy-versy.
The Wilderness Trail|Frank WilliamsIt ain't no longer to be endured, this shilly-shally, visy-versy politicks of yourn.
Quodlibet|John P. Kennedy