opposite number, one's

opposite number, one's idiom
One's counterpart, as in He's my opposite number in the California office. This expression is generally used for a person's equivalent in another organization or system (number alluding to their position in a hierarchy). [c. 1900]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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