contrary
Definitions
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MARY, MARY, QUITE CONTRARY -
WordNet 3.6
- adj contrary in an opposing direction "adverse currents","a contrary wind"
- adj contrary resistant to guidance or discipline "Mary Mary quite contrary","an obstinate child with a violent temper","a perverse mood","wayward behavior"
- adj contrary very opposed in nature or character or purpose "acts contrary to our code of ethics","the facts point to a contrary conclusion"
- adj contrary of words or propositions so related that both cannot be true but both may be false "`hot' and `cold' are contrary terms"
- n contrary a logical relation such that two propositions are contraries if both cannot be true but both can be false
- n contrary exact opposition "public opinion to the contrary he is not guilty"
- n contrary a relation of direct opposition "we thought Sue was older than Bill but just the reverse was true"
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
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Interesting fact: Contrary to popular beliefs, chocolate does not cause acne
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- Contrary A thing that is of contrary or opposite qualities. "No contraries hold more antipathy
Than I and such a knave." - Contrary (Logic) Affirming the opposite; so opposed as to destroy each other; as, contrary propositions.
- Contrary An opponent; an enemy.
- Contrary Given to opposition; perverse; forward; wayward; as, a contrary disposition; a contrary child.
- Contrary Opposed; contradictory; repugnant; inconsistent. "Fame, if not double-faced, is double mouthed,
And with contrary blast proclaims most deeds.""The doctrine of the earth's motion appeared to be contrary to the sacred Scripture." - Contrary Opposite; in an opposite direction; in opposition; adverse; as, contrary winds. "And if ye walk contrary unto me, and will not hearken unto me.""We have lost our labor; they are gone a contrary way."
- Contrary (Logic) See Contraries.
- Contrary the opposite; a proposition, fact, or condition incompatible with another; as, slender proofs which rather show the contrary . See Converse n., 1.
- v. t Contrary To contradict or oppose; to thwart. "I was advised not to contrary the king."
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- Contrary A thing that is of contrary or opposite qualities. "No contraries hold more antipathy
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
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Interesting fact: Contrary to popular belief, putting sugar in a car's gas tank will NOT ruin its engine.
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- contrary Opposite; opposed; at the opposite point or in an opposite direction.
- contrary In botany, at right angles to: as, a silique compressed contrary to the dissepiment (that is, in a direction at right angles to it, in distinction from a parallel direction).
- contrary Extremely unlike; the most unlike of anything within the same class: thus, hot and cold, up and down, sage and fool, heaven and hell, are contrary terms. In logic two propositions are contrary when the one denies every possible case of the other: as, All cows are black; No cows are black. They are contradictory when, one being universal, the other denies some only of the things asserted in the first: as, All men are wise; Some men are not wise.
- contrary Adverse; hostile; opposing; antagonistic; opposite; conflicting.
- contrary Given to contradiction; acting in opposition; captious; perverse; intractable; unaccommodating.
- contrary Wilful, Untoward, etc. See wayward.
- n contrary One of a pair of objects placed at opposite points or seen in opposite directions; an opposite.
- n contrary One of a pair of characters, propositions, statements, or terms, the most different possible within the same general sphere or class. See I., 3.
- n contrary A contradiction; a denial.
- n contrary An adversary.
- contrary In a contrary way; with a contrary result.
- contrary In heraldry, oppositely; contrariwise: said of two bearings each of which is in some sense the reverse of the other. Thus, contrary flected signifies bent or bowed in opposite directions; contrary invected or invecked means having both sides invected and in opposite senses; and contrary undé means undé on both the upper and under sides.
- contrary To oppose; contradict.
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Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary
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Interesting fact: Contrary to popular belief, opossums, squirrels, chipmunks, and mice do not carry rabies.
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- adj Contrary kon′tra-ri opposite: contradictory—Contra′riant (rare)
- n Contrary a thing that is contrary or of opposite qualities
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Quotations
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“Contraries are cured by contraries.” -
“No member of society has the right to teach any doctrine contrary to what society holds to be true.” -
“When we see men of a contrary character, we should turn inwards and examine ourselves.” -
“Consistency is contrary to nature, contrary to life. The only completely consistent people are the dead.” -
“True courage is like a kite; a contrary wind raises it higher.”
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“Nothing can have as its destination anything other than its origin. The contrary idea, the idea of progress, is poison.”
Etymology
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
OE. contrarie, contraire, F. contraire, fr. L. contrarius, fr. contra,. See Contra-
Usage
In literature:
On the contrary, it must, if read, have the opposite effect.
"The Young Mother" by William A. Alcott
Nor was Deacon Pratt at all opposed to the connection; on the contrary, he appeared rather to favour it.
"The Sea Lions" by James Fenimore Cooper
Let us not, therefore, defend or support an usage, which is contrary to all the laws of humanity.
"The History of the Rise, Progress and Accomplishment of the" by Thomas Clarkson
Man, you ought not to be affected contrary to nature by the bad things of another.
"A Selection from the Discourses of Epictetus With the Encheiridion" by Epictetus
Cow beef, on the contrary, has a closer grain and whiter fat, but the meat is scarcely as red as that of ox beef.
"Enquire Within Upon Everything" by Anonymous
The latter the very contrary of all these.
"Coleridge's Literary Remains, Volume 4." by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
FLESH, the, is contrary to the spirit, that is, contrary to the spiritual things of the church, 497.
"The Delights of Wisdom Pertaining to Conjugial Love" by Emanuel Swedenborg
Night came; but contrary to his promise, my master did not come.
"The Anti-Slavery Examiner, Part 2 of 4" by American Anti-Slavery Society
Second, that it is contrary to the first charter of human rights given to Adam, and renewed to Noah.
"The Anti-Slavery Examiner, Omnibus" by American Anti-Slavery Society
The Greeks, on the contrary, prepared with ardor for the fight.
"A Popular History of France From The Earliest Times Volume I. of VI." by Francois Pierre Guillaume Guizot
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In poetry:
Steepling snake in that contrary light
invades the dilate lens of genesis
to print your flaming image in birthspot
with characters no cockcrow can deface.
invades the dilate lens of genesis
to print your flaming image in birthspot
with characters no cockcrow can deface.
"Sonnet To Satan" by Sylvia Plath
Steepling snake in that contrary light
invades the dilate lens of genesis
to print your flaming image in birth spot
with characters no cockcrow can deface.
invades the dilate lens of genesis
to print your flaming image in birth spot
with characters no cockcrow can deface.
"Sonnet To Satan" by Sylvia Plath
From contraries I seeke to run, ay me,
But contraries I cannot shun, ay me:
For they delight their force to trye,
And to Despaire my thoughts doe ty, ay me.
But contraries I cannot shun, ay me:
For they delight their force to trye,
And to Despaire my thoughts doe ty, ay me.
"14 (Song 2)" by Mary Wroth
"There is no other way for love to flow,
Whenever it springs in a woman's breast;
With the tide of its own heart it must go,
And run contrary to all the rest."
Whenever it springs in a woman's breast;
With the tide of its own heart it must go,
And run contrary to all the rest."
"The Well Of Saint John" by Richard Doddridge Blackmore
All nature of all things began to be.
But chiefliest in the spirit (beast or man,
Planet of heaven or blossom of earth or sea)
The divine contraries of life began.
But chiefliest in the spirit (beast or man,
Planet of heaven or blossom of earth or sea)
The divine contraries of life began.
"Genesis" by Algernon Charles Swinburne
"Ah! see, little girl," then her mother replied,
"How foolish those murmurs have been;
You have but to look on the contrary side,
To learn both your folly and sin.
"How foolish those murmurs have been;
You have but to look on the contrary side,
To learn both your folly and sin.
"A True Story" by Ann Taylor
In news:
Foxy Brown insists that claims she flashed her bottom at a neighbor are "total lies," saying it couldn't have happened because, contrary to what the neighbor told cops, she wasn't wearing any underwear.
Contrary to popular belief, not every world-class wine carries a hefty price tag.
On the Contrary — July / August 2007.
I would argue that while he is capable of doing so, renouncing his US citizenship is contrary to his obligations as an American Jew.
Despite my best efforts to the contrary, there are no do-overs in life.
Contrary to previous studies, a new publication finds that most retractions from scholarly literature are not due to misconduct.
Despite rumours to the contrary, Cliff Fletcher flatly denies the Maple Leafs are pursuing Atlanta Thrashers star Ilya Kovalchuk.
A US destroyer did not run aground Thursday in Canada's Vancouver Harbor, contrary to reports on the Web sites of some US TV stations, officials said Friday.
Contrary to popular belief, Europeans highly regarded spices not because of their ability to mask bad meat, but to liven up their meals.
In his State of the Union address, President Barack Obama bragged that his administration had not raised taxes, contrary to what its opponents had alleged.
The five-horn frontline of Skerik's Syncopated Taint Septet , led by the one-named Skerik on tenor sax, can make gripping chaos from contrary motion or craft harmonies at once soft and rich.
Contrary to current belief, they did not do this to force upon the Poles universal health care.
Literature is the expression of nuance and contrariness against the voices of simplification.
Contrary to popular belief, the Lakers defense hasn't plummeted during the brief Mike D'Antoni era.
Vulture has learned that contrary to reports that saddened cinephile simiaphiles everywhere last week, Twentieth Century Fox has not given up on rebooting Planet of the Apes.
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In science:
We notice on the contrary that this is not true, as the following simple example shows.
Change point models and conditionally pure birth processes; an inequality on the stochastic intensity
Using the information available for both the UGC 12914/5 and UGC 813/6 pairs, we then show that molecular clouds can collide and drive large amounts of dense gas out of the spiral disks, despite earlier assumptions to the contrary.
Colliding molecular clouds in head-on galaxy collisions
On the contrary, the gap on the dimer side suddenly decreases.
Uniform Magnetic Order in a Ferromagnetic-Antiferromagnetic Random Alternating Quantum Spin Chain
Another feature is that a rocket orbiting the black hole on a circle near the horizon will require a higher outwards directed rocket thrust the faster it orbits the hole, contrary to the situation far from the hole.
Generalizing Optical Geometry
This is contrary to (45) of the preceeding section, where given a field ξµ that solves (45), a field hξµ would solve (45) if and only if h was constant.
Generalizing Optical Geometry
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