Contra
[kon-truh] /ˈkɒn trə/
preposition
1.
against; in opposition or contrast to:
Consider the problems of the teenager contra those of the adult.
adverb
2.
contrariwise; on or to the contrary.
[kon-truh; Spanish kawn-trah] /ˈkɒn trə; Spanish ˈkɔn trɑ/
noun, plural contras
[kon-truh z; Spanish kawn-trahs] /ˈkɒn trəz; Spanish ˈkɔn trɑs/ (Show IPA)
1.
(often initial capital letter) a member of a counterrevolutionary guerrilla group in Nicaragua.
mid-14c., from Latin contra (prep. and adv.) “against,” originally “in comparison with,” ablative singular feminine of *com-teros, from Old Latin com “with, together” (see com-) + -tr, zero degree of the comparative suffix -ter-.
n.
1981, “anti-Sandinista Nicaraguan,” short for Spanish contrarrevolucionario “counter-revolutionary.”
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[kon-truh-band] /ˈkɒn trəˌbænd/ noun 1. anything prohibited by law from being imported or exported. 2. goods imported or exported illegally. 3. illegal or prohibited trade; smuggling. 4. International Law. . 5. (during the American Civil War) a black slave who escaped to or was brought within the Union lines. adjective 6. prohibited from export or […]
- Contrabandist
[kon-truh-ban-dist] /ˈkɒn trəˌbæn dɪst/ noun 1. a person engaged in trade; smuggler.
- Contraband-of-war
noun, International Law. 1. goods that a neutral nation cannot supply to a belligerent nation except at the risk of seizure and confiscation.
- Contrabass
[kon-truh-beys] /ˈkɒn trəˌbeɪs/ Music. noun 1. (in any family of instruments) the member below the bass. 2. (in the violin family) the double bass. adjective 3. of, relating to, or characteristic of such instruments: a contrabass trombone. /ˌkɒntrəˈbeɪs/ noun 1. a member of any of various families of musical instruments that is lower in pitch […]