invert
invert Lexical Profile
invert Game Scores & Validity
• verb
To put upside down or in the opposite position, order, or arrangement.
"Once the cake has cooled for ten minutes, carefully invert the pan onto a wire rack."
To alter the relative pitch of the notes in a musical chord or interval by moving the lowest note up an octave, or by reversing the direction of the intervals in a melody.
"In the second movement, the composer chooses to invert the main fugue subject to create harmonic tension."
To subject a chemical compound (especially sucrose) to hydrolysis or stereochemical conversion so that its optical rotation is reversed.
"Confectioners often use citric acid and heat to invert sucrose into a smooth mixture of glucose and fructose."
• noun
An inverted arch, or the lowest interior portion of a tunnel, sewer, culvert, or pipe over which water or sewage flows.
"The civil engineers inspected the concrete invert of the storm drain to check for structural erosion."
Word Nuance & Usage
As a verb, 'invert' is stressed on the second syllable (in-VURT), whereas the technical noun meaning the lowest floor of a tunnel or pipe is stressed on the first syllable (IN-vurt).
• Rhymes for invert
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the mid-16th century from Latin 'invertere', meaning 'to turn upside down or turn about', formed from 'in-' (into, upon) and 'vertere' (to turn).