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Glite Dictionary
🔄 To change direction ⚖️ To cancel officially ↔️ The opposite 🚗 Backward gear 🔁 Opposite or backward 🏈 A trick play 📉 A setback 🚗 Backward gear 🪙 Back side
reverse

reverse

9 7.2
A running play where a player running one way hands the ball to a teammate running the other way
  • noun
  • /rɪˈvɜrs/
  • Jargon
translation icon : reverse (jugada de fútbol americano)
  • There was also a wide receiver reverse executed by Jeremy Deering, who gained 30 yards.

Examples

  • They're probably gonna run a reverse pick to Stites.

    Personal Best (1982)

  • JOE: It's Speyrer on the reverse.

    My All American (2015)

  • Have him run a reverse and maybe even give him a throwing option.

    Blog text (12)

  • He'll come around looking like he's going to run the reverse and then pull up and pass.

    Blog text (3)

  • The team executed a perfect reverse during the game, catching the defense off guard.

  • In the final quarter, the quarterback called for a reverse play that resulted in a touchdown.

  • The coach praised the players for successfully implementing a reverse that gained significant yardage.

Compounds

reverse gear
  • Specialized
1 3.7

A gear in a vehicle that makes it move backwards

reverse osmosis
  • Specialized
1 4.5

A process that makes water clean by forcing it through a thin layer to stop salt and dirt

double reverse
  • Specialized
1 8.2

A running play in American football where the ball is handed twice, each time changing direction

reverse transcriptase
  • Specialized
1 6.3

An enzyme that makes DNA from RNA, often used by viruses like HIV

non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor
  • Specialized
9.5

A drug that stops HIV changing its genetic material and is used with other medicines

nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor
  • Specialized
6.6

An HIV drug that joins viral DNA and stops the enzyme that copies the virus

reverse fault
  • Specialized
8.3

A break in rock where one side moves up when the land is pushed together

reverse hang
7.7

A body position with arms stretched backward while the body is held by a bar above

reverse lightning
  • Specialized
9.9

A rare electric flash that travels upward from storm clouds

reverse Midas touch
  • Informal
9.8

A tendency to make everything a person touches fail

reverse Polish notation
  • Specialized
9.5

A way to write math with numbers before the sign so no parentheses

reverse split
  • Specialized
8.2

Reduce the number of a company's shares so each share is worth more without changing total investment value

reverse stock split
  • Specialized
7.9

A company action that combines its shares so each is worth more but the total value stays the same

reverse transcriptase inhibitor
  • Specialized
5.7

A drug that stops an enzyme viruses like HIV use to copy their genes

reverse trap
  • Informal
9.1

A trick that backfires and harms the person who set it

piked reverse hang
  • Jargon
9.9

A position on rings where a gymnast hangs upside down with hips bent and legs straight

How Deceptive

double reverse
  • Specialized
1 8.2
reverse
  • Jargon
9 7.2
end run
  • Jargon
1 6.5
handoff
  • Jargon
8 3.9

Surface Forms

reverse singular
reverses plural

Morphology

reverse = verse (semi-transparent) = re + verse

The prefix 're-' (again/back) is productive and transparent, but the root '-verse' meaning 'turn' is not a common standalone word for learners, so the composition is only partly obvious.

Etymology

Reverse comes from the Latin parts re- ('back') and vertere ('to turn'), so it means 'turn back' or go the other way. That's why a football reverse is a play where the ball is sent to a player running in the opposite direction.