counter
UK /ˈkaʊn.tə/ · US /ˈkaʊn.tɚ/ noun, adverb, verb, adjective, proper noun
Forms counters countering countered
- noun One who counts. “He's only 16 months, but is already a good counter – he can count to 100.”
- noun A reckoner; someone who collects data by counting; an enumerator.
- noun An object (now especially a small disc) used in counting or keeping count, or as a marker in games, etc. “He rolled a six on the dice, so moved his counter forward six spaces.”
- noun A telltale; a contrivance attached to an engine, printing press, or other machine, for the purpose of counting the revolutions or the pulsations.
- noun (programming) A variable, memory location, etc. whose contents are incremented to keep a count.
- noun (Internet) A hit counter.
- noun A table or board on which money is counted and over which business is transacted. “He put his money on the counter, and the shopkeeper put it in the till.”
- noun A shop tabletop on which goods are examined, weighed or measured.
- adverb Contrary, in opposition; in an opposite direction.
- adverb In the wrong way; contrary to the right course.
- noun Something opposite or contrary to something else.
- noun (martial arts) A proactive defensive hold or move in reaction to a hold or move by one's opponent. “Always know a counter to any hold you try against your opponent.”
- noun (nautical) The overhanging stern of a vessel above the waterline, below and somewhat forward of the stern proper.
- noun The piece of a shoe or a boot around the heel of the foot (above the heel of the shoe/boot).
- noun The breast of a horse; that part of a horse between the shoulders and under the neck.
- noun (typography) The enclosed or partly closed negative space of a glyph.
- noun (obsolete) An encounter.
- noun counterattack
- verb To contradict, oppose.
- verb (boxing) To return a blow while receiving one, as in boxing.
Synonyms
bench benchtop measure word opposite contrasted opposed adverse antagonistic tabulator buffet sideboard rejoinder retort return riposte replication comeback heel counter counterpunch parry anticipate foresee forestall
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English countour, from Old French conteor (French comptoir), from Medieval Latin computātōrium, from Latin computō, equivalent to count + -er. Doublet of cantore, computer, and kontor.
From Old French contre, Anglo-Norman cuntre, both from Latin contra.
Webster’s 1913
- A prefix meaning contrary, opposite, in opposition; as, counteract, counterbalance, countercheck. See Counter, adv. & a.
- noun One who counts, or reckons up; a calculator; a reckoner.
- noun A piece of metal, ivory, wood, or bone, used in reckoning, in keeping account of games, etc. The old gods of our own race whose names . . . serve as counters reckon the days of the week. E. B. Tylor.
- noun A table or board on which money is counted and over which business is transacted; a long, narrow table or bench, on which goods are laid for examination by purchasers, or on which they are weighed or measured.
Etymology [OE. countere, countour, a counter (in sense 1), OF. contere, conteor, fr. conter to count. See Count, v. t.]
Etymology [OE. countour, OF. contouer, comptouer, F. comptoir, LL. computatorium, prop., a computing place, place of accounts, fr. L. computare. See Count, v. t.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “counter”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details