counter 1. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

counter¹

SYLLABICATION:	coun·ter
PRONUNCIATION:	kountr
ADJECTIVE:	Contrary; opposing: moves and counter moves on the checkerboard.
NOUN:	1. One that is an opposite. 2. Sports A boxing blow given while receiving or parrying another. 3. Sports A fencing parry in which one foil follows the other in a circular fashion. 4. A stiff piece of leather around the heel of a shoe. 5. Nautical The portion of a ship's stern extending from the water line to the extreme outward swell. 6. Printing The depression between the raised lines of the face on a piece of type.
VERB:	Inflected forms: coun·tered, coun·ter·ing, coun·ters
TRANSITIVE VERB:	1. To meet or return (a blow) by another blow. 2. To move or act in opposition to; oppose. 3. To offer in response: countered that she was too busy to be thorough.
INTRANSITIVE VERB:	To move, act, or respond so as to be in opposition.
ADVERB:	1. In a contrary manner or direction. 2. To or toward an opposite or dissimilar course or outcome: a method running counter to traditional techniques.
ETYMOLOGY:	Middle English countre, from Old French contre, from Latin contr. See counter–.


The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.