Guest Posted June 27, 2007 Report Share Posted June 27, 2007 I am thinking of a word that has two opposite definitions. I know of one, and I wonder if anybody else knows another. The one I am thinking of is found in the Bible in the book of Genesis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest Posted December 30, 2008 Report Share Posted December 30, 2008 such words are called Janus words. Another one is buckle. It can mean to bind, as in one two buckle my shoe; or it can mean to give way, as in my knees buckled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest Posted December 30, 2008 Report Share Posted December 30, 2008 The word is cleave. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Vivek Bansal Posted June 10, 2012 Report Share Posted June 10, 2012 SCREEN Defination 1. To hide.(The fish created a screen to escape) Defination 2. To show. ( He screened the picture to show the facts) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 TheChad08 Posted June 11, 2012 Report Share Posted June 11, 2012 [spoiler=who knew there were so many? (besides Google of course... )]http://www.rinkworks...ontronyms.shtml anabasis - military advance, military retreat apology - admission of fault in what you think, say, or do; formal defense of what you think, say, or do aught - all, nothing bolt - secure, run away by - multiplication (e.g., a three by five matrix), division (e.g., dividing eight by four) chuffed - pleased, annoyed cleave - separate, adhere clip - fasten, detach consult - ask for advice, give advice copemate - partner, antagonist custom - usual, special deceptively smart - smarter than one appears, dumber than one appears dike - wall, ditch discursive - proceeding coherently from topic to topic, moving aimlessly from topic to topic dollop - a large amount, a small amount dust - add fine particles, remove fine particles enjoin - prescribe, prohibit fast - quick, unmoving first degree - most severe (e.g., murder), least severe (e.g., burn) fix - restore, castrate flog - criticize harshly, promote aggressively garnish - enhance (e.g., food), curtail (e.g., wages) give out - produce, stop production grade - incline, level handicap - advantage, disadvantage help - assist, prevent (e.g., "I can't help it if...") left - remaining, departed from liege - sovereign lord, loyal subject mean - average, excellent (e.g., "plays a mean game") off - off, on (e.g., "the alarm went off") out - visible (e.g., stars), invisible (e.g., lights) out of - outside, inside (e.g., "work out of one's home") oversight - error, care pitted - with the pit in, with the pit removed put out - extinguish, generate (e.g., something putting out light) quiddity - essence, trifling point quite - rather, completely ravel - tangle, disentangle rent - buy use of, sell use of rinky-dink - insignificant, one who frequents RinkWorks sanction - approve, boycott sanguine - hopeful, murderous (obsolete synonym for "sanguinary") screen - show, hide seed - add seeds (e.g., "to seed a field"), remove seeds (e.g., "to seed a tomato") skinned - with the skin on, with the skin removed strike - hit, miss (in baseball) table - propose (in the United Kingdom), set aside (in the United States) transparent - invisible, obvious unbending - rigid, relaxing variety - one type (e.g., "this variety"), many types (e.g., "a variety") wear - endure through use, decay through use weather - withstand, wear away wind up - end, start up (e.g., a watch) with - alongside, against A lot of these are wrong. They are 'grasping at straws' to make them fit. In what situation does the word clip actually mean to unclip something? A possibility could be clip to put things together, but to clip as in to trim, but that isn't an antonym to be specific, it is more of an alternative use. Here's another: I predict that Tony Dungy will weigh his options for another year with the Colts and finally decide to resign. Will he re-up for another season, or will he quit? The correct words are resign (which is to step down) and re-sign. The hyphen is important. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 barrie7 Posted October 21, 2012 Report Share Posted October 21, 2012 what about "civilisation"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 joef1000 Posted October 22, 2012 Report Share Posted October 22, 2012 [spoiler=who knew there were so many? (besides Google of course... )]http://www.rinkworks...ontronyms.shtml anabasis - military advance, military retreat apology - admission of fault in what you think, say, or do; formal defense of what you think, say, or do aught - all, nothing bolt - secure, run away by - multiplication (e.g., a three by five matrix), division (e.g., dividing eight by four) chuffed - pleased, annoyed cleave - separate, adhere clip - fasten, detach consult - ask for advice, give advice copemate - partner, antagonist custom - usual, special deceptively smart - smarter than one appears, dumber than one appears dike - wall, ditch discursive - proceeding coherently from topic to topic, moving aimlessly from topic to topic dollop - a large amount, a small amount dust - add fine particles, remove fine particles enjoin - prescribe, prohibit fast - quick, unmoving first degree - most severe (e.g., murder), least severe (e.g., burn) fix - restore, castrate flog - criticize harshly, promote aggressively garnish - enhance (e.g., food), curtail (e.g., wages) give out - produce, stop production grade - incline, level handicap - advantage, disadvantage help - assist, prevent (e.g., "I can't help it if...") left - remaining, departed from liege - sovereign lord, loyal subject mean - average, excellent (e.g., "plays a mean game") off - off, on (e.g., "the alarm went off") out - visible (e.g., stars), invisible (e.g., lights) out of - outside, inside (e.g., "work out of one's home") oversight - error, care pitted - with the pit in, with the pit removed put out - extinguish, generate (e.g., something putting out light) quiddity - essence, trifling point quite - rather, completely ravel - tangle, disentangle rent - buy use of, sell use of rinky-dink - insignificant, one who frequents RinkWorks sanction - approve, boycott sanguine - hopeful, murderous (obsolete synonym for "sanguinary") screen - show, hide seed - add seeds (e.g., "to seed a field"), remove seeds (e.g., "to seed a tomato") skinned - with the skin on, with the skin removed strike - hit, miss (in baseball) table - propose (in the United Kingdom), set aside (in the United States) transparent - invisible, obvious unbending - rigid, relaxing variety - one type (e.g., "this variety"), many types (e.g., "a variety") wear - endure through use, decay through use weather - withstand, wear away wind up - end, start up (e.g., a watch) with - alongside, against Most of those have obvious meanings in context What about expressions that are their own antonyms? The meaning of the phrase "you don't say!" is explained as follows in the "Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English" (2006 edition): used to show you are surprised by what someone has told you - also often used when you are not at all surprised by what someone has told you. But that is sarcasm, it's different from an expression with 2 opposite meanings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Krizhelle Sheen Posted October 23, 2012 Report Share Posted October 23, 2012 cleave : To Split ; adhere just what I am thinkng of... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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I am thinking of a word that has two opposite definitions. I know of one, and I wonder if anybody else knows another. The one I am thinking of is found in the Bible in the book of Genesis.
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