counter: Meaning and Definition of

count•er

1. a table or display case on which goods can be shown, business transacted, etc.
2. (in restaurants, luncheonettes, etc.) a long, narrow table with stools or chairs along one side for the patrons, behind which refreshments or meals are prepared and served.
3. a surface for the preparation of food in a kitchen, esp. on a low cabinet.
4. anything used in keeping account, as a disk of metal or wood, used in some games, as checkers, for marking a player's position or for keeping score.
5. an imitation coin or token.
6. a coin; money.
1. (of the sale of stock) through a broker's office rather than through the stock exchange.
2. (of the sale of merchandise) through a retail store rather than through a wholesaler.
8. in a clandestine manner, esp. illegally: books sold under the counter.

count•er

1. a person who counts.
2. a device for counting revolutions of a wheel, items produced, etc.
3. See
4. a storage register or program variable used to tally how often something of interest occurs.
5. scaler (def. 2).
6. any of various instruments for detecting ionizing radiation and for registering counts. Cf. Geiger counter.

coun•ter

1. in the wrong way; contrary to the right course; in the reverse or opposite direction.
2. contrary; in opposition (usually prec. by run or go): to run counter to the rules.

1. opposite; opposed; contrary.

1. something that is opposite or contrary to something else.
2. a blow delivered in receiving or parrying another blow, as in boxing.
3. a statement or action made to refute, oppose, or nullify another statement or action.
4. a circular parry.
5. a piece of leather or other material inserted between the lining and outside leather of a shoe or boot quarter to keep it stiff.
6. the part of a stern that overhangs and projects aft of the sternpost of a vessel.
7. Also calledany part of the face of a type that is less than type-high and is therefore not inked.
8. a truss member subject to stress only under certain partial loadings of the truss.
9. the part of a horse's breast that lies between the shoulders and under the neck.

1. to go counter to; oppose; controvert.
2. to meet or answer (a move, blow, etc.) by another in return.

1. to make a counter or opposing move.
2. to give a blow while receiving or parrying one, as in boxing.

coun•ter

1. to encounter in opposition or combat.

counter-

1. a combining form ofused with the meanings “against,” “contrary,” “opposite,” “in opposition or response to” (countermand); “complementary,” “in reciprocation,” “corresponding,” “parallel” (counterfoil; counterbalance); “substitute,” “duplicate” (counterfeit).