DictionaryAI

counter

USKOWN-tur/ˈkaʊn.tɚ/UKKOWN-tuh/ˈkaʊn.tə/

Pluralcounters

Verbcounters, countering, countered

23 meanings of counter

Practice

  1. 1
    shop surfacenouncountable
    A long flat surface in a shop, bank, or office across which customers are served, goods are shown, and money is handled.

    The jeweler spread the rings out on the counter for us to compare.

    She waited at the counter while the clerk wrapped her bread in brown paper and counted out her change.

    UsageYou wait at the counter; staff work behind the counter. Medicines sold over the counter need no prescription.

  2. 2
    verbtransitive or intransitive
    To contradict or oppose a person, statement, or action.

    The defense attorney countered every point the prosecution raised.

    Critics will counter that the data is incomplete.

    UsageOften counter that + a statement (critics counter that the data is incomplete), or counter a claim with facts.

    Similarrebut, contradict, refute, dispute, retort

  3. 3
    kitchen surfacenouncountable
    A flat surface, often built above cabinets, especially in a kitchen or bathroom, used for preparing food or holding a sink.

    He set the groceries down on the counter and started unpacking.

    Granite counters remain popular in newer homes despite the cost.

    Note

    Kitchens are where the vocabulary divides by region. In Australia and New Zealand the same built-in work surface is called a bench, so a visitor told to leave the groceries on the bench there is being pointed to this, not to a seat. British English more often calls the kitchen surface a worktop.

  4. 4
    verbtransitive or intransitive
    To take action in response to something; to respond with a move of one's own.

    The company countered the lawsuit by filing one of its own.

    Chess players learn to counter aggressive openings with solid development.

    UsageOften counter one move with another: counter an offer with a higher one.

    Similaranswer, counteract, combat, parry

    Note

    The broad sense of meeting a move with a move is most at home in policy talk: governments counter threats, and firms counter lawsuits. Simon Jenkins, writing in 2012, sets the verb phrase “counter terrorism” beside the noun counter-terror, and the spacing matters. Written as two words it is an action; the hyphenated or closed form names a field or a policy.

    Checked 7 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Simon Jenkins wrote the passage in 2012. theguardian.com
    • The passage juxtaposes “counter terrorism” and “counter-terror”; the former occurs within a quotation attributed to David Cameron. en.wiktionary.org
  5. 5
    adjective
    Contrary or opposing in direction, purpose, or effect.

    Cutting the training budget now would be counter to the company's stated goal of keeping its most skilled staff.

    Her proposal was directly counter to the committee's recommendation.

    UsageUsually after be, with to: her plan was counter to ours, directly counter to the recommendation.

    Similaropposite, opposed, adverse, antagonistic

    Note

    The adjective shows itself in two positions. Before a noun it means opposing, as in the counter hits of Anthony Trollope's Framley Parsonage (1860–1861). After be it takes to: counter to my plan. With run, the same phrase is the adverb.

  6. 6
    tally devicenouncountable
    A device or display that counts and shows how many times something happens, such as a machine's turns or a web page's visits.

    She added a counter to her blog to track how many readers stopped by.

    The forum's counter ticked past a million views during the tournament.

    Note

    On the web the word usually stands for hit counter, the visible tally of how many times a page has been loaded. Context supplies the missing word, though a counter on a page can also tally comments or visitors online. It is, in effect, the programmer's incremented variable put on display for visitors.

    Checked 7 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • A hit counter displays a running tally of visits to a webpage. en.wikipedia.org
    • Counters on blogs can also display other quantities, including comments or users currently online. akismet.com
  7. 7
    return attacknouncountable
    In sports and fighting, a move or attack made in reply to an opponent's attack.

    The soccer team scored on a swift counter just before halftime.

    After soaking up pressure for most of the half, the visitors broke on the counter and scored with their first shot on goal.

    UsageIn team sports, often on the counter: a team hits or scores on the counter after soaking up pressure.

    Similarriposte

    Note

    Football writing clips counterattack to this, most often in the phrase on the counter. Phil McNulty, reporting Nottingham Forest's 1–2 defeat to Arsenal in 2024, describes Forest sitting back in blocks of defense, waiting to hit Arsenal on the counter.

  8. 8
    nouncountable
    Something that acts against, balances, or stands in contrast to something else.

    The film's hopeful ending serves as a counter to its bleak opening.

    Regular exercise is a useful counter to long hours spent sitting at a desk.

    UsageUsually a counter to something: exercise is a useful counter to long hours at a desk.

    Similarcontrast, foil, counterweight, antidote

  9. 9
    adverb
    In the opposite direction or in opposition, describing how something runs, goes, or acts, usually followed by to.

    The committee's decision ran counter to public opinion.

    Salmon swim counter to the current on their way upstream.

    UsageMost often run counter to: decisions, findings and habits run counter to rules, trends or wishes.

    Note

    This is the other counter, unrelated to counting: Old French contre and Anglo-Norman cuntre, from Latin contra. John Locke's Some Thoughts Concerning Education (1693) speaks of a young man “running counter to all the rules of virtue,” and the pattern is unchanged today.

  10. 10
    computer variablenouncountable
    A variable or memory location whose value is incremented to keep a count of events or repetitions.

    The loop increments a counter on each pass through the array.

    The loop uses a counter that starts at zero and goes up by one on each pass, so the program knows when to stop.

    Note

    Programmers use it for the variable that keeps a tally, usually one added to on each pass through a loop. To increment a counter is the standard pairing, and the word often works attributively, as in a counter variable. Some loop constructs make it unnecessary. Matthew MacDonald's Beginning ASP.NET 2.0 in C# 2005 (2006) notes that a foreach block needs no explicit counter.

    Checked 7 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • Matthew MacDonald wrote Beginning ASP.NET 2.0 in C# 2005. link.springer.com
    • The book was first published in 2006. link.springer.com
    • MacDonald states that a foreach block needs no explicit counter, supporting the observation that some loop constructs make one unnecessary. en.wiktionary.org
  11. 11
    game piecenouncountable
    A small object, now especially a flat disc, used in counting, keeping score, or as a marker in games.

    He slid a red counter onto the square to mark his move.

    Shopkeepers once tallied sums with counters on a ruled board.

    Similartoken, marker, chip, piece

    Note

    Here the word names the tool rather than the person: an object you count with. It shares Latin computō with the shop counter, so the tool and the surface of reckoning ended up with one name. Today it is most often a small flat disc. In everyday use it is the token a player moves along the board after a roll of the dice.

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of counter apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origins

Meanings 1, 3, 6, 10–12, 17–18

It came through Middle English countour, which merged Old French conteor ('one who counts') and Middle French contoir ('counting table'), both built on Latin computō ('to count'); it is the same as count plus -er, and a doublet of cantore, computer, and kontor.

Checked 7 Nov 2026 · 6 facts

  • The counting noun passed through Middle English countour from Old French conteor. en.wiktionary.org
  • This conflates two formations: conteor derives from Latin computātor, while contoir derives from Medieval Latin computātōrium. They merged in Anglo-French and Middle English. vestnik.utmn.ru
  • Medieval Latin computātōrium ultimately derives from Latin computō. en.wiktionary.org
  • Latin computō means to count or reckon. en.wiktionary.org
  • The counting noun is equivalent to count plus -er. en.wiktionary.org
  • Counter is a doublet of cantore, computer, and kontor. en.wiktionary.org
Meanings 2, 4–5, 7–9, 13–16, 19–21

Latin contra ('against') is the source; it reached English through two closely related forms, Old French contre and Anglo-Norman cuntre.