oppose

verb

Sayuh-POHZ/əˈpoʊz/UK/əˈpəʊz/

4 meanings of oppose

1
verbtransitive
To try to stop the progress of something, or to resist and struggle against it, whether physically or through argument.
Activist groups oppose the pipeline at every stage, filing lawsuits and organizing blockades.
Firefighters opposed the advancing flames with controlled burns along the ridge.
Similarresist, confront, obstruct, hinder, withstand
Oppositesupport, back
Note
Underneath every use is a Latin picture of putting something in the way: ob "against" plus pono "to put", carried through Old French opposer into Middle English opposen. The verb takes its target directly, with no preposition: you oppose the king, oppose a bill, oppose a plan. Shakespeare and Fletcher's "too weak / To oppose your cunning" (1613) shows the same pattern four centuries back.
2
verbtransitive
To object to something; to express disagreement with or disapproval of it.
Several board members oppose the proposed merger.
The senator has opposed the measure since it was first introduced.
Similarcontest, argue
Oppositesupport, favor, endorse, back
3
verbtransitive
To present or set up against something else, as a contrast or a counter.
Philosophers often oppose appearance to reality.
The novel opposes the noise of the city to the quiet of the village.
Similarcontrast, juxtapose
Note
Here the verb takes two objects joined by to, and one thing is set against another: my single opinion to his, appearance to reality. In Philip Meadows Taylor's Confessions of a Thug (1839), ruined walls "oppose a most formidable interruption to an invader", which means they put an obstacle in his path. The adjective opposed to, as in opposed to any form of hierarchy, drifts back toward the "object to" meaning.
4
verbtransitive
To place in front of or directly facing something; to set opposite or present to view.
Museum staff oppose the two portraits on facing walls so visitors can compare them.
He opposed his palm to the cold glass of the window.
Note
The most physical and visual use: a thing is set where it faces someone, so that it is seen. In Shakespeare and Fletcher's 1613 play, her grace sits in a chair of state, "opposing freely / The beauty of her person to the people." She is displaying herself, not resisting anyone. The pattern is the same oppose X to Y as the contrasting sense, but what is set opposite is shown, not weighed.

Practice

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Origin

From Middle English 'opposen', from Old French 'opposer', from Latin 'ob' ('before, against') plus Medieval Latin 'pono' ('to put'), taking the place of Latin 'opponere' ('to oppose').