Meanings
alternative obsolete againest · alternative obsolete agaynest · alternative obsolete agaynst · alternative obsolete ageinest · alternative obsolete ageinst · alternative obsolete agenest · alternative obsolete agenst · alternative obsolete ageynest · alternative obsolete ageynst · alternative poetic 'gainst · alternative poetic gainst · alternative dialectal agin
- In physical opposition to; in collision with.
The rain pounds against the window.
1 more example
Ivor had acquired more than a mile of fishing rights with the house ; he was not at all a good fisherman, but one must do something ; one generally, however, banged a ball with a squash-racket against a wall.
1922, Michael Arlen, “3/19/2”, in “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days - In physical contact with, so as to abut or be supported by.
The ladder was leaning against the wall.
2 more examples
The puppy rested its head against a paw.
The kennel was put against the back wall.
- Close to, alongside.
A row of trees stood against a fence.
1 more example
We expressed our readiness, and in ten minutes were in the station wagon, rolling rapidly down the long drive, for it was then after nine.[…]As we reached the lodge we heard the whistle, and we backed up against one side of the platform as the train pulled up at the other.
1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC - In front of; before (a background).
The giant was silhouetted against the door.
- In contrast or comparison with.
He stands out against his classmates.
2 more examples
There is an awesome authenticity in Barrus's voice which, I imagine, is frightening to those who must evaluate art against a one-dimensional standard of political rectitude.
1986 February 15, Lars Eighner, “A Homosexual Norman Mailer?”, in Gay Community News, volume 13, number 31, page 5This report sets out the risks against the benefits.
- In competition with, versus.
The Tigers will play against the Bears this weekend.
2 more examples
“[…] it is not fair of you to bring against mankind double weapons ! Dangerous enough you are as woman alone, without bringing to your aid those gifts of mind suited to problems which men have been accustomed to arrogate to themselves.”
1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLCThe breakthrough came through Torres who, pilloried for his miss against Manchester United a week earlier, scored his second goal of the season.
2011 September 24, Aled Williams, “Chelsea 4-1 Swansea”, in BBC SportSynonyms: versus
- Contrary to; in conflict with.
Doing this is against my principles.
2 more examples
It is against the law to smoke on these premises.
There was no car in sight so we crossed against the red light.
- In opposition to.
I'd bet against his succeeding.
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His mind is closed against all arguments.
Are you against freedom of choice?
He waged a ten-year campaign against the company that was polluting the river.
(with implied object) Ten voted for, and three voted against.
Mr. Cooke at once began a tirade against the residents of Asquith for permitting a sandy and generally disgraceful condition of the roads. So roundly did he vituperate the inn management in particular, and with such a loud flow of words, that I trembled lest he should be heard on the veranda.
1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLCAntonyms: for
- Of betting odds, denoting a worse-than-even chance.
That horse is fifty-to-one against, so it has virtually no chance of winning.
Antonyms: on
- In exchange for.
The vouchers are redeemable against West End shows and theatre breaks.
- As counterbalance to.
- As a charge on.
Tax is levied against income from sales.
- As protection from.
He turned the umbrella against the wind.
3 more examples
Beautie alone is a ſoveraigne remedy againſt feare,griefe,and all melancholy fits; a charm,as Peter de la Seine and many other writers affirme,a banquet it ſelfe;he gives inſtance in diſcontented Menelaus that was ſo often freed by Helenas faire face: and ʰTully, 3 Tusc. cites Epicurus as a chiefe patron of this Tenent.
1638, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy. […], 5th edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] [Robert Young, Miles Flesher, and Leonard Lichfield and William Turner] for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition II, section 2, member 6, subsection iv, page 298Against the coming of the flood the sage was commanded to make a strong raft, binding it firmly together with ropes.
1918, James George Frazer, Folk-Lore In The Old Testament, volume 1, page 201Monoclonal antibodies were raised against these proteins: IN-1 and IN-2 bound both to the 35 kd and 250 kd inhibitors and to the surface of differentiated cultured oligodendrocytes.
1988 March 1, Pico Caroni with Martin E. Schwab, “Antibody against myelin associated inhibitor of neurite growth neutralizes nonpermissive substrate properties of CNS white matter”, in Neuron, →DOI, page 85 - In anticipation of; in preparation for (a particular time, event etc.).
The stores are kept well stocked against a time of need.
5 more examples
He wrote to a friend of his, that he lived but with browne bread and water, and entreated him to send him a piece of cheese, against [translating pour] the time he was to make a solemne feast.
1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 11, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC"And now leave me, I pray thee, and thou too, my own Kallikrates, for I would get me ready against our journey, and so must ye both, and your servant also."
1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLCA quarter of a mile inland we came upon the holluschickie -- sleek young bulls, living out the loneliness of their bachelorhood and gathering strength against the day when they would fight their way into the ranks of the benedicts
1904, Jack London, chapter 30, in The Sea-Wolf (Macmillan’s Standard Library), New York, N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap, →OCLCOf the two fried chops served him for breakfast he ate one and gave Edmund the other, and put a buttered sandwich of bread in his pocket against the accidents of travel.
1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 18Rod, who always distrusted such methods, was forced to accept the new way but had begun to stash away large amounts of cash against the day that the system might be sabotaged or failed entirely.
2003, Rodger J. Bille, A Few of the Chosen: Survivors of Terrorism, Trafford Publishing, →ISBN, page 8 - HollywoodTo be paid now in contrast to the following amount to be paid later under specified circumstances, usually that a movie is made or has started filming.
The studio weren't sure the movie would ever get made, so they only paid $50,000 against $200,000. That way they wouldn't be out very much if filming never began.
1 more example
“Hollywood noises” yielded an early $35,000 option against $100,000 if the movie was made.
2011, Charles Foran, Mordecai: The Life & Times - obsoleteExposed to.
alternative obsolete againest · alternative obsolete agaynest · alternative obsolete agaynst · alternative obsolete ageinest · alternative obsolete ageinst · alternative obsolete agenest · alternative obsolete agenst · alternative obsolete ageynest · alternative obsolete ageynst · alternative poetic 'gainst · alternative poetic gainst · alternative dialectal agin
- obsoleteBy the time that (something happened); before.
He now gave Mrs Deborah positive orders to take the child to her own bed, and to call up a maid-servant to provide it pap, and other things, against it waked.
1749, Henry Fielding, Tom Jones, Folio Society, published 1973, page 61 more example
Thence she them brought into a stately Hall, / Wherein were many tables faire dispred, / And ready dight with drapets festiuall, / Against the viaundes should be ministred.
1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto IX”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC
Synonyms & antonyms
prepositionIn competition with, versus.
prepositionIn opposition to.
prepositionOf betting odds, denoting a worse-than-even chance.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁én
- Proto-Germanic*in
- Proto-Indo-European*ǵʰengʰ-
- Proto-Germanic*ganganąder.?
- Proto-Germanic*gagin
- Proto-Germanic*in gagin
- Proto-West Germanic*in gagin
- Old Englishonġēan
- Middle Englishayenes
- Englishagainst
Formed from Middle English ayenes, agenes, againes (“in opposition to”), a southern variant of agen, or directly from again, either way with adverbial genitive singular ending -es; the parasitic -t was added circa 1350, probably by confusion with the superlative ending -est. By surface analysis, again + -st (excrescent ending). Cognate with Saterland Frisian juun (“against”), West Frisian tsjin (“against”), Dutch tegen (“against”), German Low German gegen (“against”), German gegen (“against”), Icelandic gegn (“against”).
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans teen
- teenin a contrary direction to
Ancient Greek ἀντί, κατά
- ἀντί (antí)in a contrary direction to
- κατά (katá)in opposition to
Arabic ضد, ضِدّ
- ضد (ḍidd)in a contrary direction to
- ضِدّ (ḍidd)in opposition to
Basque aurka
- aurkain a contrary direction to
Bengali বিরুদ্ধে
- বিরুদ্ধে (biruddhe)in opposition to
Bulgarian обратно на, про́тив
- обратно на (obratno na)in a contrary direction to
- про́тив (prótiv)in a contrary direction to
- до (do)close to
- на фона на (na fona na)in front of; before a background
- срещу (sreštu)in contrast or comparison with
- про́тив (prótiv)in opposition to
- за (za)in exchange for
- срещу (sreštu)as counterbalance to
- против (protiv)as protection from
Catalan contra, contra
- contrain a contrary direction to
- contrain physical contact with
- a tocar declose to
- davantin front of; before a background
- enfront dein front of; before a background
- comparat ambin contrast or comparison with
- en contrain competition with
- enfront dein competition with
- en contrain opposition to
- enfront dein opposition to
- en comptes dein exchange for
- en comptes deas counterbalance to
Chinese Mandarin 反對 /反对
- 反對 /反对 (fǎnduì)in opposition to
Czech proti, o
- protiin a contrary direction to
- oin physical contact with
- protiin front of; before a background
- protiin competition with
- protiin opposition to
- protias protection from
Danish mod, imod
- modin a contrary direction to
- imodin a contrary direction to
- modin physical contact with
- modclose to
- modin competition with
- versusin competition with
- modin opposition to
- imodin opposition to
- modin exchange for
- i stedetas counterbalance to
- i stedet foras counterbalance to
- modas protection from
Dutch tegen, tegen
- tegenin a contrary direction to
- tegenin physical contact with
- tegen (... aan)close to
- tegenin front of; before a background
- voorin front of; before a background
- tegenin competition with
- tegenin opposition to
- tegenin exchange for
- voorin exchange for
- tegenas protection from
- tegen datby the time that
- totdatby the time that
- voordatby the time that
Esperanto kontraŭ, kontraŭ
- kontraŭin a contrary direction to
- kontraŭin physical contact with
- ĉeclose to
- apudclose to
- antaŭin front of; before a background
- kontrastein contrast or comparison with
- komparein contrast or comparison with
- kontraŭin competition with
- kontraŭin opposition to
- kontraŭin exchange for
- anstataŭas counterbalance to
Estonian vastu
- vastuin opposition to
Finnish vastaan, vastavirtaan
- vastaanin a contrary direction to
- vastavirtaanin a contrary direction to
- vastenin physical contact with
- vastenclose to
- edessäin front of; before a background
- vastenin front of; before a background
- verrattunain contrast or comparison with
- vastaanin competition with
- vastenin opposition to
- vastaanin exchange for
- vastaanas counterbalance to
- vastaanas a charge to
- ennen kuinby the time that
French contre, contre
- contrein a contrary direction to
- contrein physical contact with
- contreclose to
- contrein competition with
- contrein opposition to
- face àas protection from
- pourin anticipation of, in preparation for
German gegen, gegen
- gegenin a contrary direction to
- gegenin physical contact with
- gegenin competition with
- mitin competition with
- gegenin opposition to
- widerin opposition to
Greek κόντρα, κοντά
- κόντρα (kóntra)in a contrary direction to
- κοντά (kontá)in physical contact with
- κοντά (kontá)close to
- με (me)in front of; before a background
- restin contrast or comparison with
- κατά (katá)in competition with
- κατά (katá)in opposition to
Hebrew נגד, נגד
- נגד (neged)in a contrary direction to
- נגד (neged)in opposition to
Irish in aghaidh, in éadan
- in aghaidhin a contrary direction to
- in éadanin a contrary direction to
- i gcoinnein competition with
- in aghaidhin opposition to
- in éadanin opposition to
- i gcoinnein opposition to
Italian contrario, contro
- contrarioin a contrary direction to
- controin a contrary direction to
- controin physical contact with
- controin contrast or comparison with
- controin competition with
- controin opposition to
- in cambio diin exchange for
Japanese ...に反して, ...に逆らって
- ...に反して (...ni han shite)in a contrary direction to
- ...に逆らって (...ni sakaratte)in opposition to
- ...に反して (...ni han shite)in opposition to
- ...に対して (...ni tai shite)in opposition to
Korean 거슬러, 맞서
- 거슬러 (geoseulleo)in a contrary direction to
- 맞서 (matseo)in a contrary direction to
- 기대어 (gidaeeo)in physical contact with
- 근처에 (geuncheo'e)close to
- -와 (-wa)in competition with
- 맞서 (matseo)in competition with
Latin contra, in
- contrain a contrary direction to
- inin a contrary direction to
- contrāin opposition to
Latvian pret
- pretin a contrary direction to
Norwegian mot, mot
- motin a contrary direction to
- motin opposition to
- imotin opposition to
Norwegian Bokmål imot
- imotin a contrary direction to
Persian ضد, علیه
- ضد (zedd)in a contrary direction to
- علیه ('aleyh-e)in opposition to
Polish przeciw, pod
- przeciwin a contrary direction to
- podin a contrary direction to
- oin physical contact with
- zin competition with
- przeciwkoin competition with
- przeciwin opposition to
- przeciwkoin opposition to
Portuguese contra, contra
- contrain a contrary direction to
- contrain physical contact with
- perto declose to
- defrontein front of; before a background
- diante dein front of; before a background
- em relação ain contrast or comparison with
- contrain competition with
- contrain opposition to
- porin exchange for
- sobreas a charge to
- contraas protection from
Romanian contra, contra
- contrain a contrary direction to
- contrain opposition to
- contrain exchange for
Russian про́тив, по
- про́тив (prótiv)in a contrary direction to
- по (po)in physical contact with
- напро́тив (naprótiv)close to
- ря́дом с (rjádom s)close to
- напро́тив (naprótiv)in front of; before a background
- пе́ред (péred)in front of; before a background
- на фо́не (na fóne)in front of; before a background
- по сравне́нию с (po sravnéniju s)in contrast or comparison with
- про́тив (prótiv)in competition with
- про́тив (prótiv)in opposition to
- взаме́нin exchange for
- на (na)in exchange for
Scottish Gaelic an aghaidh, mu choinneimh
- an aghaidhin a contrary direction to
- mu choinneimhin front of; before a background
- an aghaidhin competition with
- an aghaidhin opposition to
- an aghaidhas protection from
Slovak proti, proti
- protiin a contrary direction to
- protiin opposition to
Spanish contra, contra
- contrain a contrary direction to
- contrain physical contact with
- cerca declose to
- contrain front of; before a background
- frentein front of; before a background
- en contrain competition with
- en contra dein opposition to
- enfrente dein opposition to
- en pugna dein opposition to
- al opósito dein opposition to
- contrain opposition to
- en contrario dein opposition to
Swahili dhidi ya, juu ya
- dhidi yain a contrary direction to
- juu yain opposition to
- dhidi yain opposition to
Swedish mot, mot
- motin a contrary direction to
- motin physical contact with
- motin opposition to
- emotin opposition to
- motas protection from
Tagalog kontra, kontra
- kontrain opposition to
- kontraas protection from
Tamil எதிர்க்க
- எதிர்க்க (etirkka)in a contrary direction to
Turkish karşı, karşı
- karşıin a contrary direction to
- karşıin opposition to
Ukrainian про́ти, про́ти
- про́ти (próty)in a contrary direction to
- про́ти (próty)in opposition to
- в обмі́нin exchange for
- на (na)in exchange for
- від (vid)as protection from
- про́ти (próty)as protection from
Vietnamese với, chống lại
- vớiin competition with
- chống lạiin opposition to
Welsh yn erbyn, o flaen
- yn erbynin a contrary direction to
- o flaenin front of; before a background
Yiddish געגנט
- געגנט (gegnt)in front of; before a background
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
against. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/against
“against.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/against. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “against,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/against.
Source: against on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.