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definitions

contra

2
[kon-truh; Spanish kawn-trah]
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noun, plural con·tras [kon-truh z; Spanish kawn-trahs] /ˈkɒn trəz; Spanish ˈkɔn trɑs/.

(often initial capital letter) a member of a counterrevolutionary guerrilla group in Nicaragua.

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RELATED WORDS

antithesis, contrary, reversal, inverse, paradox, reverse, obverse, converse, contradiction, counterpart, foil, opposition, antipode, antonym, contrast, contra, about-face, back, underside, regression

Origin of contra

2
< American Spanish, shortening of contrarrevolucionario counterrevolutionary
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for contras

Contemporary Examples of contras

Historical Examples of contras

  • Si, seores, he had indeed, until Colonel Dupin and the Contras arrived.

    The Missourian

    Eugene P. (Eugene Percy) Lyle

  • Seeing Ney, he supposed the Contras at no great distance, and a shot would bring them on his heels.

    The Missourian

    Eugene P. (Eugene Percy) Lyle

  • He had deserted the Contras to waylay the rich bullion convoy of which Rodrigo Galn had told him.

    The Missourian

    Eugene P. (Eugene Percy) Lyle

  • The guerrillas, repulsed by the Americans, fled upon the Contras, whereat the Americans swept them both back indiscriminately.

    The Missourian

    Eugene P. (Eugene Percy) Lyle

  • At Contras Henry of Navarre was reported as cut to pieces, yet his loss was less than 10 per cent.

Word Origin and History for contras

Contras

n.

see Contra.

contra

mid-14c., from Latin contra (prep. and adv.) "against," originally "in comparison with," ablative singular feminine of *com-teros, from Old Latin com "with, together" (see com-) + -tr, zero degree of the comparative suffix -ter-.

Contra

n.

1981, "anti-Sandinista Nicaraguan," short for Spanish contrarrevolucionario "counter-revolutionary."

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper