an erstwhile opponent
以前的对手
His erstwhile friends turned against him.
他先前的朋友转而与他作对。
1.从前,往昔
1.以前的,从前的,原来的
1.an erstwhile friend, employer, etc. was a friend, employer, etc. until recently but is not any more. A more usual word is former.
1.The erstwhile prodigy had the best chance of her career to win this title, the only Grand Slam singles title she hasn't won.
这位昔日的天才选手曾有其网球生涯中夺得法网女单冠军的最佳机会，这也是她唯一没赢得过的大满贯冠军头衔。
2.She was a successor to one of her erstwhile foils, Brendan Gill, and she alternated reviewing with another former target, Penelope Gilliatt.
她的前任是她从前的敌人布兰顿·吉尔，和她轮流撰写影评的是另一个昔日的目标：佩莱娜裴·吉拉特。
3.So what prompted Mr Bush to come out with such a tough response against his erstwhile ally, after six days of dithering?
布什在不知所措了6天之后，发出如此强硬的回应，这究竟是什么原因呢？
4.A fortune teller remembers an old prophecy that the son of her erstwhile lover must be bricked up alive in order for the fortress to stand.
一个算命者想起从前的一个预言，那就是必须把她以前情人的儿子砌在墙里城堡才能建好。
5.It's easy to sympathise: the erstwhile masters of the universe seem to have forgotten the meaning of both "moral" and "hazard" .
这很容易让人同情：过去的宇宙主宰者（mastersoftheuniverse）们似乎忘记了“道德”和“风险”的涵义。
6.We were delighted to discover a new community garden where erstwhile had been a trash-filled vacant lot.
我们欣喜地在过去曾被垃圾填充的空地上发现了一个新的社区花园。
7.The war is again becoming a potential deal-breaker for erstwhile Labour voters, as it was at the election of 2005.
这场战争再次成为原工党支持者倒戈的潜在导火线，就如2005年大选一样。
8.In the wake of erstwhile acquisitive operators like the UK's Vodafone, China Mobile is now planning a shopping spree.
继英国沃达丰（Vodafone）之类老牌的“贪婪运营商”偃旗息鼓之后，现在，中国移动（ChinaMobile）正计划大举收购。
9.Big Pharma is in big trouble, but it may yet find comfort in the arms of that erstwhile foe.
尽管大型药厂遭遇大的困境，但是它们仍可以在与昔日对手的联合中找到安慰。
10.Like some other erstwhile true believers, he became one of most cogent critics of his former faith.
如同昔日的某些真正信徒一样，他也成为其原有信仰最有力的批判者之一。