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Invert vs Backwards - What's the difference?

invert | backwards |

As adjectives the difference between invert and backwards

is that invert is (chemistry) subjected to the process of inversion; inverted; converted while backwards is oriented toward the back.

As a verb invert

is to turn (something) upside down or inside out; to place in a contrary order or direction.

As a noun invert

is (archaic) a homosexual man.

As an adverb backwards is

toward the back.

invert

English

Verb

(en verb)
  • To turn (something) upside down or inside out; to place in a contrary order or direction.
  • to invert a cup, the order of words, rules of justice, etc.
  • * Shakespeare
  • That doth invert the attest of eyes and ears, / As if these organs had deceptious functions.
  • * Cowper
  • Such reasoning falls like an inverted cone, / Wanting its proper base to stand upon.
  • (music) To move (the root note of a chord) up or down an octave, resulting in a change in pitch.
  • (chemistry) To undergo inversion, as sugar.
  • To divert; to convert to a wrong use.
  • (Knolles)

    Derived terms

    * invert sugar * inverted * invertible

    See also

    * convert

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (archaic) A homosexual man.
  • (architecture) An inverted arch (as in a sewer). *
  • The base of a tunnel on which the road or railway may be laid and used when construction is through unstable ground. It may be flat or form a continuous curve with the tunnel arch. invert (in'?vert) The floor or bottom of the internal cross section of a closed conduit, such as an aqueduct, tunnel, or drain - The term originally referred to the inverted arch used to form the bottom of a masonry?lined sewer or tunnel (Jackson, 1997) Wilson, W.E., Moore, J.E., (2003) Glossary of Hydrology, Berlin: Springer
  • (civil engineering) The lowest point inside a pipe at a certain point.
  • (civil engineering) An elevation of a pipe at a certain point along the pipe.
  • Adjective

    (-)
  • (chemistry) Subjected to the process of inversion; inverted; converted.
  • invert sugar

    References

    English heteronyms

    backwards

    English

    Alternative forms

    * backward

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Oriented toward the back.
  • The battleship had three backwards guns at the stern, in addition to the primary complement .
  • Reversed.
  • The backwards lettering on emergency vehicles makes it possible to read in the rear-view mirror.
  • (derogatory) Behind current trends or technology.
  • Modern medicine regards the use of leeches as a backwards practice.
  • Clumsy, inept, or inefficient.
  • He was a very backwards scholar, but he was a marvel on the football field.

    Usage notes

    * In senses 3 and 4, and often in American English, backward is preferred.

    Synonyms

    * (oriented toward the back) * (reversed) mirror image, switched, back to front * (behind current trends or technology) crude, dated, obsolete, primitive * awkward, fumbling, incompetent, poor

    Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • Toward the back.
  • The cabinet toppled over backwards .
    Life is lived forwards, but understood backwards . —Søren Kierkegaard
  • In the opposite direction to usual.
  • The clock did not work because the battery was inserted backwards .
  • In a manner such that the back precedes the front.
  • The tour guide walked backwards while droning on to the bored seniors.

    Usage notes

    * In written American English, backward is more common. * Strictly speaking, backwards'' is an adverb and ''backward is an adjective in British English; in American English, the rule may be reversed. This follows the same usage for similar words ending in -ward/-wards and -way/-ways. See also -wise. *: It was a backward move'' vs ''He moved backwards * Also, even though an adverb may be used in adjectival combinations (eg a quickly moving car ), only the -ward forms are commonly used in adjectival combinations, e.g.: *: A backward-facing statue. / A backward facing statue.

    Synonyms

    * (toward the back) hindwards, rearward, retrograde * (in the opposite direction of usual) contrariwise, reversedly * (so that the back precedes the front) back to front, in reverse

    Derived terms

    * backwards and forwards

    Anagrams

    *