All 12 Uses of
contrary
in
1776
- contrary to fact, contrary to evidence?†
p. 13..2 (definition 1)
- contrary to fact, contrary to evidence?†
p. 13..2 (definition 1)
- On the contrary, William Howe had little inclination ever to rush things.†
p. 72..4 (definition 2) *
- The "contrary" winds of the afternoon of March 5, the storm that followed that night, and the "weather continuing boisterous the next day and night" were the deciding factors, Howe wrote, in that they gave the enemy still more time to improve their defenses of the Heights.†
p. 97..5
- The East River, no river at all but a saltwater estuary nearly a mile wide, was famously difficult to navigate, with swift, contrary currents and tides of as much as six feet.†
p. 126..9 *
- Stirling had been ordered by Putnam to "repulse" the enemy, and for lack of orders to the contrary, he and his men had held on for nearly four hours.†
p. 176..8 (definition 3) *
- In a feat of extraordinary seamanship, at the helm and manning oars hour after hour, they negotiated the river's swift, contrary currents in boats so loaded with troops and supplies, horses and cannon, that the water was often but inches below the gunnels— and all in pitch dark, with no running lights.†
p. 188..2
- The justice of our cause, the hope of success, and every other circumstance that can enliven us, must be put into the scale against those of a contrary kind, which I allow to be serious….†
p. 201..4
- For contrary to what Washington thought, the British had had no plans for or any intention of engaging the rebels that day, or anytime soon.†
p. 219..9 (definition 1) *
- At age thirty-seven, he was at his professional prime but, unlike Howe, a man with no bad habits or inclinations to self-indulgence, and if not as intellectually gifted as Clinton, he had no peevish or contrary side.†
p. 253..1
- I t was commonly understood that eighteenth-century professional armies and their gentlemen commanders did not subject themselves to the miseries of winter campaigns, unless there were overriding reasons to the contrary.†
p. 267..6 (definition 3)
- Especially for those who had been with Washington and who knew what a close call it was at the beginning—how often circumstance, storms, contrary winds, the oddities or strengths of individual character had made the difference—the outcome seemed little short of a miracle.†
p. 294..9
Definitions:
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(1) (contrary to as in: contrary to) in opposition toeditor's notes: You could also think of this as meaning, despite, or in spite of, or in conflict with; but since a common meaning of contrary is opposite, you many find it easiest to think of contrary to as in opposition to.
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(2) (on the contrary as in: on the contrary) an expression used to intensify denial of an ideaeditor's notes: More rarely, on the contrary is used to oppose an idea contained in what was just said rather than to oppose what was literally said. Here is an example: "I will not pay you for the work. On the contrary, I may sue you for damages." Suing for damages does not oppose not paying, but it does oppose the idea of paying.
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(3) (to the contrary as in: to the contrary) with an opposite or different effect; or something with an opposite or different effect
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(contrary as in: a contrary idea) different (perhaps opposite or mutually exclusive)editor's notes: In formal logic, contrary propositions or contrary arguments describe two things that cannot both be true. They might be described as mutually exclusive. For example, a pet cannot be both a cat and a dog. It doesn't need to be either, but if it is one, it cannot be the other. So the statement that a pet is a cat and the statement that the same pet is a dog, are contrary statements.