invert

[ verb in-vurt; adjective, noun in-vurt ]

/ verb ɪnˈvɜrt; adjective, noun ˈɪn vɜrt /

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See synonyms for: invert / inverted on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object)

to turn upside down.

to reverse in position, order, direction, or relationship.

to turn or change to the opposite or contrary, as in nature, bearing, or effect: to invert a process.

to turn inward or back upon itself.

to turn inside out.

Chemistry. to subject to a reaction in which a starting material of one optical configuration forms a product of the opposite configuration.

Music. to subject to musical inversion, the transposition between the upper voice part and the lower.

Phonetics. to articulate as a retroflex vowel.

verb (used without object)

Chemistry. to undergo a reaction in which a starting material of one optical configuration forms a product of the opposite configuration.

adjective

Chemistry. subjected to a reaction in which a starting material of one optical configuration forms a product of the opposite configuration.

noun

a person or thing that is reversed in position, changed to the contrary, or turned upside down, inside out, or inward.

(in plumbing) that portion of the interior of a drain or sewer pipe where the liquid is deepest.

a U-shaped arch or vault, having the opposite vertical orientation compared to a traditional arch or vault.

Philately. a two-colored postage stamp with all or part of the central design printed upside down in relation to the inscription.

Psychiatry. (no longer in technical use)

a gay person.
a person whose behavior is considered nonnormative for their assigned sex, historically involving both gender non-conforming or transgender expression and gay or lesbian sexual orientation.

Disparaging and Offensive. anyone whose sexuality or gender expression is regarded as strange or unnatural, especially a gay or transgender person.

Informal. (especially among aquarists) invertebrate: My invert tank is mostly sea slugs, but I bought a couple of shrimp recently also.

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In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

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Origin of invert

First recorded in 1525–35; from Latin invertere “to turn upside down or inside out,” equivalent to in- “in” + vertere “to turn”; see in-², verse

synonym study for invert

2. See reverse.

OTHER WORDS FROM invert

in·vert·i·ble, adjectivenon·in·vert·ed, adjectiveun·in·vert·ed, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use invert in a sentence

Muaddi’s summer collection for Fenty introduced a new inverted stiletto heel which carries on into the duo’s latest collection.
Fenty Releases Second Round Of Heels By Amina Muaddi|Nandi Howard|November 12, 2020|Essence.com
If you rotate an electron by 360 degrees, its state will be inverted, just as an arrow, when moved around a 2D Möbius strip, comes back around pointing the opposite way.
What Is a Particle?|Natalie Wolchover|November 12, 2020|Quanta Magazine
Our approach applies DeepCT over each passage in the corpus, and stores the context-aware term weights in an ordinary inverted index to replace tf.
Could Google passage indexing be leveraging BERT?|Dawn Anderson|October 29, 2020|Search Engine Land
Depending on the identity and influence of the complainant, it may even completely invert their opinion of you.
How to create a consistent omnichannel customer experience|Rodney Laws|October 22, 2020|Search Engine Watch

I also learned the power of what they called an inverted pyramid, where the leadership team is at the bottom of the pyramid, because we bear the weight for the actions that we take and the decisions that we make.
The holidays used to be UPS’s busiest time. Then came COVID-19|Aaron Pressman|October 19, 2020|Fortune
The flier itself shows an inverted Islamic State flag, with Arabic script below it.
ISIS Fliers on a Marine Corps Base?|Tim Mak|October 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The painting is mostly a bone-colored affair, as the background overwhelms the inverted spiral of the levels of Hell.
Fact-Checking Dan Brown’s ‘Inferno’: 10 Mistakes, False Statements, and Oversimplifications|Noah Charney|May 20, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The EP-3E immediately flips over into a nearly completely inverted dive.
The Truth About Women in Combat|David Frum|March 1, 2013|DAILY BEAST
It is not compassionate, it is not wise, and it reflects a completely inverted sense of priorities.
House Republicans Cave to Sandy Aid Pressure|John Avlon|January 2, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The crew of Alaska Air 261 briefly attempted to regain control by flying inverted.
Real Pilots Laugh at ‘Flight’|Patrick Smith|November 18, 2012|DAILY BEAST
It is only necessary to have a zinc, or a galvanized tray on which to stand the glass in an inverted position.
How to Know the Ferns|S. Leonard Bastin
A world of sky and water, with ships and boats, resting on their own inverted images, in the midst.
The Floating Light of the Goodwin Sands|R.M. Ballantyne
Um could reach the highest shelf without standing on an inverted rice-pot, or the even more precarious fish-cleaning bench.
The Dragon Painter|Mary McNeil Fenollosa
I carry the pile to the table provided with an iron post, about eighteen inches high, topped with a small inverted disk.
Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist|Alexander Berkman
There may be a sort of inverted vanity in refusing fair play to a power, on that ground.
The Daughters of Danaus|Mona Caird

British Dictionary definitions for invert

invert

verb (ɪnˈvɜːt)

to turn or cause to turn upside down or inside out

(tr) to reverse in effect, sequence, direction, etc

(tr) phonetics

to turn (the tip of the tongue) up and back
to pronounce (a speech sound) by retroflexion

logic to form the inverse of a categorial proposition

noun (ˈɪnvɜːt)

psychiatry

a person who adopts the role of the opposite sex
another word for homosexual

architect

the lower inner surface of a drain, sewer, etcCompare soffit (def. 2)
an arch that is concave upwards, esp one used in foundations

Derived forms of invert

invertible, adjectiveinvertibility, noun

Word Origin for invert

C16: from Latin invertere, from in- ² + vertere to turn

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

invert

Origin of invert

synonym study for invert

OTHER WORDS FROM invert

Words related to invert

How to use invert in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for invert

Derived forms of invert

Word Origin for invert