Difference between revisions 5553477 and 5676174 on simplewiki

A '''contronym''' is a word with two meanings. These two meanings are the opposites of each other. The meaning is got by its [[context (language)|context]] in the [[sentence]].

;Examples:

*bolt: secure, run away
:''He bolted the door'', ''When he got scared, he bolted''
*cleave - split, adhere
(contracted; show full)
*fireman - makes fires, extinguishs fires.
:''The steam locomotive's fireman shovelled coal into the firebox'', ''The fireman used a hose to spray water to put out the fire.''
*fix - restore, castrate
:''He fixed the broken table'', ''They had their puppy fixed''
*Go -  To proceed or succeed, or to weaken or fail
:''she had to go home'', ''the rope had let go''

*Literally - actually, or virtually
:''there were literally 20,000 people at the concert'', ''I literally had no time to do that assignment''
*left - remaining, departed from
:''After taking an apple, there were two left'', ''He opened the door and left''
*moot - open to debate, settled beyond debate
:''The car's value is moot'', ''Your dating that boy is moot''
*off - off, on
:''He turned the lights off'', ''When the window broke, the alarm went off''
*rent - buy use of, sell use of
(contracted; show full):''My mother-in-law is such a virago'', ''My mother is such a virago''
*weather - to wear away, to withstand
:''his skin was weathered'', ''the boat weathered the storm well''


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[[Category:Words]]