n, -shuh
n]
| 1. | an act or instance of inverting. |
| 2. | the state of being inverted. |
| 3. | anything that is inverted. |
| 4. | Rhetoric. reversal of the usual or natural order of words; anastrophe. |
| 5. | Grammar. any change from a basic word order or syntactic sequence, as in the placement of a subject after an auxiliary verb in a question or after the verb in an exclamation, as “When will you go?” and “How beautiful is the rose!” |
| 6. | Anatomy, Pathology. the turning inward of a part, as the foot. |
| 7. | Chemistry.
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| 8. | Music.
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| 9. | Psychiatry. assumption of the sexual role of the opposite sex; homosexuality. |
| 10. | Genetics. a type of chromosomal aberration in which the position of a segment of the chromosome is changed in such a way that the linear order of the genes is reversed. Compare chromosomal aberration. |
| 11. | Phonetics. retroflexion (def. 3). |
| 12. | Also called atmospheric inversion, temperature inversion. Meteorology. a reversal in the normal temperature lapse rate, the temperature rising with increased elevation instead of falling. |
| 13. | Electricity. a converting of direct current into alternating current. |
| 14. | Mathematics. the operation of forming the inverse of a point, curve, function, etc. |
| 15. | pertaining to or associated with inversion therapy or the apparatus used in it: inversion boots. |
inversion in·ver·sion (ĭn-vûr'zhən, -shən)
n.
The act of inverting or the state of being inverted.
Conversion of a substance in which the direction of optical rotation is reversed.
The taking on of the gender role of the opposite sex.
Homosexuality. Used in psychology.
A chromosomal defect in which a segment of the chromosome breaks off and reattaches in the reverse direction.
| inversion (ĭn-vûr'zhən) Pronunciation Key
A departure from the normal effect of altitude on a meteorological property, especially an atmospheric condition in which the air temperature rises with increasing altitude. ◇ A layer of air that is warmer than the air below it is called an inversion layer. Such a layer traps the surface air in place and prevents dispersion of any pollutants it contains. |
inversion
in chemistry, the spatial rearrangement of atoms or groups of atoms in a dissymmetric molecule, giving rise to a product with a molecular configuration that is a mirror image of that of the original molecule.
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