538 O P P 
received, to itnpofe on us that which we think not our- 
ielves bound unto ; that therefore ye are not to claim in 
any conference other than the plaintiff’s, or opponent's, 
part. Hooker .— How becomingly does Philopolis exercife 
his office, and feafonably commit the opponent with the 
refpondent, like a long-pra6tifed moderator! More. 
OPPORTU'NE, arlj. [opportun, Fr. opportunus, Lat.] 
Seafonable; convenient; fit; timely; well-timed; proper. 
—There was nothing to be added to this great king’s fe¬ 
licity, being at the top of all worldly blifs, and the per¬ 
petual conftancy of his profperous fuccelfes, but an op¬ 
portune death, to withdraw him from any future blow of 
fortune. Bacon. 
Confider’d every creature, which of all 
Molt opportune might ferve his wiles; and found 
The ferpent fubtlell bead of all the field. Milton. 
OPPORTUNELY, adv. Seafonably; conveniently; 
with opportunity either of time or place.—He was re- 
folved to chufe a war rather than to have Bretagne car¬ 
ried by France, being fituate fo opportunely to annoy Eng¬ 
land either for coalt or trade. Bacon's Hen. VII. 
OPPORTUNENESS, f. Seafonablenefs; the date of 
being opportune. 
OPPORTUNITY, f. [opportunity, Fr. opportunitas, 
Lat.] Fit time ; fit place ; time; convenience; fuitable- 
nefs of circumdances to any end.—I had an opportunity to 
fee the clouds defcend ; and, after it was pad, to afcend 
again fo high, as to get over part of the mountain. Broivn's 
Travels .—NegleCt no opportunity of doing good, nor check 
thy defire of doing it by a vain fear of what may happen. 
Alterbury .—All poets have taken an opportunity to give 
long defcriptions of the night. Broome. 
Opportunity, like a fudden gud, 
Hath dwell’d my calmer thoughts into a temped.— 
Accurfed opportunity ! 
That work’d our thoughts into defires, defires 
To refolutions; thofe being ripe and quicken’d. 
Thou giv’d them birth, and bring’d them forth to aCtion. 
Denham. 
Convenience.—Augudus, who had obferved the oppor¬ 
tunity of the place (Ravenna), prepared, at the didance 
of three miles from the old town, a capacious harbour. 
Gibbon. 
OPPO'SAL, f. [from oppofe.] Oppofition.—The cadle- 
gates opened, fearlefs of any further bppojal. Sir T. Her¬ 
bert's Travels. 
To OPPO'SE, v. a. [oppofer, Fr. oppono, Lat.] To a ft 
againd ; to be adverfe ; to hinder ; to refid : 
There’s no bottom, none. 
In my voluptuoufnefs : and my defire 
All continent impediments would o’erbear, 
That did oppofe my will. Shakcjpeare's Macbeth. 
To put in oppofition; to offer as an antagonid or rival.— 
If all men are not naturally equal, I am lure all daves are ; 
and then I may, without prefumption, oppofe my fingle 
opinion to his. Locke. —To place as an obitacle : 
Since he dands obdurate, 
And that no lawful means can carry me 
Out of his envy’s reach, I do oppofe 
My patience to his fury. Shakcjpeare's Merck. ofVen. 
To place in front; to place over againd : 
Her grace fat down 
In a rich chair of date; oppojing freely 
The beauty of her perfon to the people. Shakefpeare. 
To OPPO'SE, v.n. To aft adverfely.—He praftifed to 
difpatch fuch of the nobility as were like to oppoje againd 
his ntifehievous drift, and in fuch fort to encumber and 
weaken the red, that they dtould be no impediments to 
him. Hayward. 
A fervant, thrill’d with remorfe, 
Ojypos'd againd the aft, bending his fword 
To his great mader. ShaheJ'pcarc's K. I^ar. 
O P P 
To objeft in a deputation; to have the part of railing 
difficulties againd a tenet fuppofed to be right. 
OPPO'SELESS, adj. Irrefidible ; not to be oppofed : 
I could bear it longer, and not fall 
To quarrel with your great oppofelefs wills. Shakefpeare. 
OPPO'SER, f. One that oppofes ; antagonid; enemy; 
rival.—I do not fee how the miniders could have con¬ 
tinued in their dations, if their oppofers had agreed about 
the methods by which they fhould be ruined. Swift. 
A hardy modern chief, 
A bold oppofer of divine belief. Blackmore. 
An officer belonging to the exchequer. See vol. vii. p. ioo. 
OP'POSITE, adj. [Fr. from oppofttus, Lat.] Placed in 
front; facing each other : 
To the other five, 
Their planetary motions and afpefts, 
In fextile, fquare, and trine, and oppofite, 
Of noxious efficacy. Milton's P. L. 
Adverfe; repugnant.— A profpefl very uneafy to the 
lulls and paffions, and oppojite to the dronged defines of 
fledi and blood. Rogers. —Contrary.—In this fallen date 
of man, religion begins with repentance and converfion, 
the two oppojite terms of which are God and fin. Tillotfon. 
OP'POSITE, f. Adverfary ; opponent; antagonid ; 
enemy.—To the bed and wifed, while they live, the world 
is continually a froward oppojite , a curious obferver of 
their defefls and imperfeftions; their virtues it after¬ 
wards as much admireth. Hooker. —He is the mod fkilful, 
bloody, and fatal, oppofite, that you could have found in 
Illyria. Shakefpeare's Twelfth Night. 
The knight whom fate or happy chance 
Shall grace his arms fo far in equal fight, 
From out the bars to force his oppofite, 
The prize of valour and of love (hall gain. Dryden. 
OP'POSITELY, adv. [from oppofite.'] In fuch a fitua- 
tion as to face each other.—The lefler pair are joined 
edge to edge; but not oppofitely with their points down¬ 
wards, but upward. Grew. —Adverfely : 
I oft have feen, when corn was ripe to mow. 
And now in dry and brittle draw did grow. 
Winds from all quarters oppofitely blow. May's Vug. 
OP'POSITENESS, f. The date of being oppofite. 
OPPOSI'TION, J\ [Fr. from oppofitio, Lat.] Situation 
fo as to front fomething oppofed ; danding over againd. 
—Hodile refidance.— He confiders Laufus refeuing his 
father at the hazard of his own life, as an image of himfelf, 
when he took Anchifes on his fhoulders, and bore him 
fafe through the rage of the fire and the oppofition of his 
enemies. Drydeu's Dufrefnoy. 
Virtue, which breaks through all oppofition, 
And all temptation can remove, 
Mod diines, and mod is acceptable above. Milton's S. A. 
Contrariety of afteCtion.—They who never tried the ex¬ 
periment of a holy life, meafure the laws of God not by 
their intrinfical goodnefs, but by the reluCtancy and oppo¬ 
fition which they find in their own hearts. Tillotfon .—Con¬ 
trariety of intered ; contrariety of meafures.—When the 
church is taken for the perlons making profedion of the 
Chridian faith, the catholick is often added in oppofition 
to hereticks and fchifmaticks. Pearfon. —Contrariety of 
meaning; diverlity of meaning.—The ufe of language 
and cultom of fpeech, in all authors I have met with, has 
gone upon this rule, or maxim, that exclufive terms are 
always to be underdood in oppofition only to what they 
are oppofed to, and not in oppofition to what they are not 
oppofed to. Waterland. — Contradiction.'—Reafon can 
never permit the mind to rejeCt a greater evidence, to 
embrace what is lefs evident, nor allow it to entertain 
probability in oppofition to knowledge and certainty. 
Locke. —The collective body of members of both boufos 
of parliament who oppofe the minidry, or the meafures of 
x government. 
