- against
- [[t]əge̱nst, əge͟ɪnst[/t]]
♦(In addition to the uses shown below, against is used in phrasal verbs such as `come up against', `guard against', and `hold against'.)1) PREP If one thing is leaning or pressing against another, it is touching it.
She leaned against him...
On a table pushed against a wall there were bottles of beer and wine.
...the rain beating against the window panes.
2) PREP If you are against something such as a plan, policy, or system, you think it is wrong, bad, or stupid.Taxes are unpopular - it is understandable that voters are against them...
Joan was very much against commencing drug treatment.
...a march to protest against job losses.
Ant:in favour of, forADV: ADV after vAgainst is also an adverb.The vote for the suspension of the party was 283 in favour with 29 against.
3) PREP If you compete against someone in a game, you try to beat them.The tour will include games against the Australian Barbarians...
Billy Hardy has pulled out of his second fight against Noel Carroll after a training accident.
4) PREP If you take action against someone or something, you try to harm them.Security forces are still using violence against opponents of the government.
...an upsurge in racism against immigrants...
The demonstration itself was against the Government's new Community Charge.
5) PREP If you take action against a possible future event, you try to prevent it.Experts have been discussing how to improve the fight against crime...
They are arguing against hospital closures...
I must warn you against raising your hopes.
6) PREP If you do something against someone's wishes, advice, or orders, you do not do what they want you to do or tell you to do.He didn't want to go against the wishes of the German government...
He discharged himself from hospital against the advice of doctors.
7) PREP If you do something in order to protect yourself against something unpleasant or harmful, you do something which will make its effects on you less serious if it happens.Any business needs insurance against ordinary risks such as fire, flood, and breakage...
It has been claimed that wine helps protect against heart disease.
Have you got something against women, Les?...
I have nothing against foreigners.
9) PREP If something is against the law or against the rules, there is a law or a rule which says that you must not do it.It is against the law to detain you against your will for any length of time...
We thought cheating was against the rules.
10) PREP If you are moving against a current, tide, or wind, you are moving in the opposite direction to it....swimming upstream against the current...
They were going to sail around the little island, against the tide.
Ant:11) PREP If something happens or is considered against a particular background of events, it is considered in relation to those events, because those events are relevant to it.The Pope has sent a message appealing for unity in his homeland, against a background of divisions in the Solidarity movement...
The profits rise was achieved against a backdrop of falling metal prices.
12) PREP If something is measured or valued against something else, it is measured or valued by comparing it with the other thing.Our policies have to be judged against a clear test: will it improve the standard of education?...
Check the operator's productivity against agreed targets...
The US dollar is down against most foreign currencies today.
13) PHRASE If you discuss a particular set of facts or figures as against another set, you are comparing or contrasting the two sets of facts or figures.Only about 60% of voters were firm in their intention at the start of the campaign, as against 80% before.
14) PREP: n PREP The odds against something happening are the chances or odds that it will not happen.The odds against him surviving are incredible.
Ant:ADV: n ADVAgainst is also an adverb.What were the odds against?
English dictionary. 2008.
