antagonist
/ænˈtæɡənɪst/ noun C1- An opponent or enemy.
- One who antagonizes or stirs.
- A chemical that binds to a receptor but does not produce a physiological response, blocking the action of other agonist chemicals, such as endogenous chemical messengers.
- The main character or force opposing the protagonist in a literary work or drama.
- A muscle that acts in opposition to another. · A flexor, which bends a part, is the antagonist of an extensor, which extends it.
Plural antagonists
From the library
Bennet, he offered himself as his antagonist at backgammon.
You know my powers, my dear Watson, and yet at the end of three months I was forced to confess that I had at last met an antagonist who was my intellectual equal.
“An outspoken, honest antagonist is the doctor,” said Holmes.
There were no signs of a struggle, nor had the victim any weapon with which he might have wounded an antagonist.
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