adversaryad‧ver‧sa‧ry /ˈædvəsəri $ ˈædvərseri/ ●○○ noun (plural adversaries) [countable] 
his old adversary
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- Quijano wanted to ensure success against his political adversaries.
- Symes grabbed his adversary by the throat and wrestled him to the ground.
- The peace talks proved that even great adversaries were capable of cooperation.
- But the same is not true of our potential adversaries.
- By 2015, two populations, composed of very different ethnic groups, faced each other as adversaries across a great divide.
- Like the trained warrior that I was, I knew not to oppose an adversary head-on.
- The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces; against them he will thunder in heaven.
- The adversary politics thesis developed by the reformers has also been variously challenged.
- The bipolar adversary process often involves paying little attention to these wider interests.
- The significant discontinuities elsewhere support the thesis of adversary politics.
- Yet there is that nearly irresistible need for lawyers to smear their adversary, even a grieving widow.
THESAURUSperson
someone who does not like you because you have had a big disagreement with them in the past or someone who opposes you in business or politics: · If that’s how he treats his friends, I’d hate to be his enemy.· In business, it’s best not to make too many enemies.
formal an enemy: · When he retired, he was replaced by his old adversary.· He made the fatal mistake of underestimating his adversary.
literary an enemy: · A guard called out ‘Who goes there – friend or foe?’· his former foes
someone’s main enemy: · In the movie, Batman goes into battle with his arch enemy the Joker.
someone you are competing against, for example in a sports game, competition, or election: · You win the game if you are left with more cards than your opponent.· He is admired even by his political opponents.
written an enemy or opponent that is impossible to defeat – a rather formal use: · In the final, he met his old nemesis, Rafael Nadal.
Longman Language Activatorsomeone you are fighting against, especially in a war someone you are fighting against, especially in a war: · You cannot attack an enemy unless you have precise information about their numbers and position. the enemy (=the army or country that your army or country is fighting against in a war): · They accused him of giving secret information to the enemy.common enemy (=an enemy you share with another person, country etc): · Britain and France decided to unite and fight against their common enemy.enemy/aircraft/soldiers/tanks etc: · One man was ordered to observe enemy aircraft and to warn when danger was imminent.
formal or written a person or country that wants to attack and defeat you or your country: · Mitterand drew France closer to the European union and to Germany, its former foe.friend or foe: · As we approached the camp a guard called out: "Who goes there -- friend or foe?''
formal or written a country or person that you are fighting against: · The peace talks proved that even great adversaries were capable of cooperation.· Symes grabbed his adversary by the throat and wrestled him to the ground.
hostile areas, soldiers etc are those belonging to a country or group that wants to attack and defeat your country, and are therefore dangerous: · Hostile forces have taken control of cities in the north of the country.· The ships had travelled thousands of miles through hostile waters to converge in the Atlantic.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY his old adversaryCOLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADJECTIVE
formal a country or person you are fighting or competing against SYN opponent: his old adversary· Again, the atmosphere is friendly with everyone recounting the day's activities whilst making new friends and meeting old adversaries.· The two old adversaries, now both in their early sixties, have never met in person.· But it will also be needed to pacify old adversaries, and to prevent small crises from becoming big ones.· The two old adversaries are seeded to meet in Tuesday's final.
NOUN· Gamble argues that the adversary politics thesis over-generalises from a few instances to the whole of economic policy.· The significant discontinuities elsewhere support the thesis of adversary politics.· The adversary politics thesis developed by the reformers has also been variously challenged.· They have been the commonplace stuff of the party political debate that is adversary politics.· The three main diagnoses are those of government overload, adversary politics, and pluralist stagnation.· A compatible but independent thesis is that of adversary politics.· The effect of adversary politics in Britain is intensified by the rapid turnover of government personnel.· The other argument deployed against the adversary politics thesis calls into doubt the relevance of the notion itself.
his old adversary