antagonisticadj.

a1637 B. Jonson Magnetick Lady iii. vi. 105 in Wks. (1640) III Their valours are not yet so combatant, or truly antagonistick, as to fight.

1796 C. Watkins Refl. on Govt. iii. 35 Let us prevent it [sc. tyranny], by the restraint of its antagonistic (if it be not too technical and pedantic to say so) and opposite principles.

1843 J. S. Mill Syst. Logic I. ii. iv. §6 The antagonistic action of acids and alkalies.

1859 J. S. Mill On Liberty 127 The progressive principle..is antagonistic to the sway of Custom.

1875 H. C. Wood Treat. Therapeutics (1879) 260 That opium and belladonna are, in their influence upon the system, antagonistic.

1881 M. Williams in 19th Cent. No. 49. 505 Innumerable antagonistic forces which confront each other in eternal opposition.

1904 G. S. Hall Adolescence I. 19 Anthropometrists think growth in height..antagonistic to growth in girth.

1932 E. Waugh Black Mischief v. 183 The smart set,..though not actively antagonistic, were tepid in their support.

1994 A. Brookner Private View (1995) v. 94 She was not only antagonistic to women, but antagonistic, on principle, to the men they married.

2007 Nature 11 Jan. 158/2 Three main mechanisms have been proposed in which variety in genes controlling homosexuality could be maintained in a population: overdominance, sexually antagonistic selection, and kin altruism.

1725 T. Morgan Philos. Princ. Med. ii. iv. 137 By which the Muscle so impress'd is brought into a strong and forcible Contraction, against the contrary much weaker, and merely mechanical Force of its antagonistick Muscle.

1745 Philos. Trans. 1744–5 (Royal Soc.) 43 56 As we shall more fully explain it, when we speak of the Æquilibration between antagonistic Muscles.

1845 R. B. Todd & W. Bowman Physiol. Anat. II. 399 The action of the external and internal intercostals must be antagonistic.

1894 Philos. Trans. 1893 (Royal Soc.) B. 184 690 The loss of the tone of the muscles antagonistic to those on which the jerk depends may play a main part in the production of the exaggeration of the jerk.

1953 L. E. Morehouse & A. T. Miller Physiol. of Exercise (ed. 2) xvi. 199 Rapid, rhythmic activity is accomplished by an alternation of contraction and relaxation of the antagonistic flexors and extensors of the joints in motion.

1995 R. P. Pfeiffer & B. C. Mangus Concepts Athletic Training xv. 166/1 However, strains can be the result of miscommunication between agonistic muscles and antagonistic muscles.