opponent

& s. [Lat. opponens, pr. par. of oppo no to place opposite; Sp. oponente; Ital. opponente.] [OPPONE.] *A. As adjective: 1. Opposite; situated or standing opposite or in front. "Her sympathizing lover takes his stand High on th' opponent bank." Thomson: Spring, 666. IMG:content-0315.png:[blocks in formation] 1. One who opposes; one who supports the opposite side in a cause, controversy, or argument; an adversary, an antagonist. "For, while his opponents were united, his adherents were divided." -Macaulay: Hist. Eng . , ch. xxiii. 2. One who attacks some thesis or proposition; one who opens a dispute or argument by raising objections to a tenet or doctrine; the correlative to defendant or respondent. "How becomingly does Philopolis exercise his office, and seasonably commit the opponent with the respondent, like a long practiced moderator."-More.