What does "counter" mean?
One who counts.
Counter
/ˈkaʊn.tə/ adj, adv, name, noun, verb
adj, adv, name, noun, verb ·Top 500 ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: One who counts.
- Grammar: counter is listed as adj, adv, name, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: abjure, acc, act against, adding machine.
- Useful contrasts: agree, agreement, echoing.
- Usage evidence: Is there an information counter?
How to use "counter"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "counter" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "counter" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "counter" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "counter" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "counter" is acting as adj, adv, name, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "abjure" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "counter", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 One who counts.
"He's only 16 months, but is already a good counter – he can count to 100."
- 2 Something opposite or contrary to something else.
- 3 a return punch (especially by a boxer) wordnet
- 4 A reckoner; someone who collects data by counting; an enumerator.
"The basic idea is that the researcher conducting the transect (called the counter or enumerator) walks along a set path at certain intervals (hourly, daily, monthly, etc.) and tallies all instances of whatever is being surveyed."
- 5 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."
Show 26 more definitions
- 6 a piece of furniture that stands at the side of a dining room; has shelves and drawers wordnet
- 7 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."
- 8 The overhanging stern of a vessel above the waterline, below and somewhat forward of the stern proper.
- 9 table consisting of a horizontal surface over which business is transacted wordnet
- 10 A telltale; a contrivance attached to an engine, printing press, or other machine, for the purpose of counting the revolutions or the pulsations.
- 11 The piece of a shoe or a boot around the heel of the foot (above the heel of the shoe/boot).
"Seymour, sitting in an old corduroy armchair across the room, a cigarette going, wearing a blue shirt, gray slacks, moccasins with the counters broken down, a shaving cut on the side of his face […]"
- 12 a calculator that keeps a record of the number of times something happens wordnet
- 13 A variable, memory location, etc. whose contents are incremented to keep a count.
"With a foreach block, you don't need to create an explicit counter variable."
- 14 Alternative form of contra Formerly used to designate any under part which served for contrast to a principal part, but now used as equivalent to countertenor. alt-of, alternative
- 15 a piece of leather forming the back of a shoe or boot wordnet
- 16 A hit counter. Internet
- 17 The breast of a horse; that part of a horse between the shoulders and under the neck.
- 18 game equipment (as a piece of wood, plastic, or ivory) used for keeping a count or reserving a space in various card or board games wordnet
- 19 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."
- 20 The enclosed or partly closed negative space of a glyph.
- 21 (computer science) a register whose contents go through a regular series of states (usually states indicating consecutive integers) wordnet
- 22 A shop tabletop on which goods are examined, weighed or measured.
- 23 An encounter. obsolete
"with kindly counter under mimic shade"
- 24 a quick reply to a question or remark (especially a witty or critical one) wordnet
- 25 In a kitchen, a surface, often built into the wall and above a cabinet, designed to be used for food preparation.
- 26 counterattack
"Arsenal lacked urgency and penetration in a lazy, lacklustre opening half, sucked in by Forest's strategy of sitting back in blocks of defence waiting to hit them on the counter."
- 27 a person who counts things wordnet
- 28 In a bathroom, a surface, often built into the wall and above a cabinet, which holds the washbasin.
- 29 Any stone lying closer to the center than any of the opponent's stones.
- 30 The prison attached to a city court; a compter. historical
"He remaynes prisonner in the Counter in Woodstrete in the hole, by the contagiousing wherof he is lyke to perishe"
- 31 A class of word used along with numbers to count objects and events, typically mass nouns. Although rare and optional in English (e.g. "20 head of cattle"), they are numerous and required in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.
Verb
- 1 To contradict, oppose.
"I don't remember the conversation totally verbatim, yet I remember the tone — increasingly angry on my part, and flippant and snide on his. We countered back and forth at least three times."
- 2 speak in response wordnet
- 3 To return a blow while receiving one, as in boxing.
"His left hand countered provokingly."
- 4 act in advance of; deal with ahead of time wordnet
- 5 To take action in response to; to respond.
"David Cameron insists that his latest communications data bill is “vital to counter terrorism”. Yet terror is mayhem. It is no threat to freedom. That threat is from counter-terror, from ministers capitulating to securocrats."
Show 1 more definition
- 6 To encounter. obsolete, transitive
Adjective
- 1 Contrary or opposing not-comparable
"His carrying a knife was counter to my plan."
Adjective
- 1 indicating opposition or resistance wordnet
Adverb
- 1 Contrary, in opposition; in an opposite direction. not-comparable
"running counter to all the rules of virtue"
- 2 In the wrong way; contrary to the right course. not-comparable
"a hound that runs counter"
Adverb
- 1 in the opposite direction wordnet
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"Is there an information counter?"
Common questions
What is a synonym for "counter"?
Common synonyms include: abjure, acc, act against, adding machine, adversary, adversative.
How do you use "counter" in a sentence?
Is there an information counter?
How do you pronounce "counter"?
Pronounced /ˈkaʊn.tə/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
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.
Etymology 2
From Old French contre, Anglo-Norman cuntre, both from Latin contra.