Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Invert?

\In*vert"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Inverted}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Inverting}.] [L. invertere, inversum; pref. in- in + vertere to turn. See {Verse}.] 1. To turn over; to put upside down; to upset; to place in a contrary order or direction; to reverse; as, to invert a cup, the order of words, rules of justice, etc. That doth invert the attest of eyes and ears, As if these organs had deceptious functions. --Shak. Such reasoning falls like an inverted cone, Wanting its proper base to stand upon. --Cowper. 2. (Mus.) To change the position of; -- said of tones which form a chord, or parts which compose harmony. 3. To divert; to convert to a wrong use. [Obs.] --Knolles. 4. (Chem.) To convert; to reverse; to decompose by, or subject to, inversion. See {Inversion}, n., 10.
\In*vert"\, v. i. (Chem.) To undergo inversion, as sugar.
\In"vert\, a. (Chem.) Subjected to the process of inversion; inverted; converted; as, invert sugar. {Invert sugar} (Chem.), a variety of sugar, consisting of a mixture of dextrose and levulose, found naturally in fruits, and produced artificially by the inversion of cane sugar (sucrose); also, less properly, the grape sugar or dextrose obtained from starch. See {Inversion}, {Dextrose}, {Levulose}, and {Sugar}.
\In"vert\, n. (Masonry) An inverted arch.