counter

Etymology 1

From Anglo-Norman countour, from Old French conteor (French comptoir), from Medieval Latin computātōrium, from Latin computō. Doublet of cantore, computer, and kontor.

noun

1. One who counts.
   He's only 16 months, but is already a good counter – he can count to 100.
2. 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. 2019, Li Huang, James Lambert, “Another Arrow for the Quiver: A New Methodology for Multilingual Researchers”, in Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, →DOI, page 4
3. 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.
4. A telltale; a contrivance attached to an engine, printing press, or other machine, for the purpose of counting the revolutions or the pulsations.
5. (programming) A variable, memory location, etc. whose contents are incremented to keep a count.
6. (Internet) A hit counter.
7. 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.
8. A shop tabletop on which goods are examined, weighed or measured.
9. In a kitchen, a surface, often built into the wall and above a cabinet, designed to be used for food preparation.
10. In a bathroom, a surface, often built into the wall and above a cabinet, which holds the washbasin.
11. (curling) Any stone lying closer to the center than any of the opponent's stones.
12. (historical) The prison attached to a city court; a compter.
    He remaynes prisonner in the Counter in Woodstrete in the hole, by the contagiousing wherof he is lyke to perishe 1590, John Greenwood, Christopher Bowman's Petition
13. (grammar) 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.

Etymology 2

From Old French contre, Anglo-Norman cuntre, both from Latin contra.

adv

1. Contrary, in opposition; in an opposite direction.
2. In the wrong way; contrary to the right course.
   a hound that runs counter
   She hated being pregnant; it ran counter to everything she wanted from her body 2004, Bee Lavender, Maia Rossini, Mamaphonic: Balancing Motherhood and Other Creative Acts

noun

1. Something opposite or contrary to something else.
2. (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.
3. (nautical) The overhanging stern of a vessel above the waterline, below and somewhat forward of the stern proper.
4. 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 […] 1959, J. D. Salinger, Seymour: An Introduction
5. (music) 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.
6. The breast of a horse; that part of a horse between the shoulders and under the neck.
7. (typography) The enclosed or partly closed negative space of a glyph.
8. (obsolete) An encounter.

verb

1. To contradict, oppose.
   In a war of words that has broken out between Khan and Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps, the Mayor was accused of sending revenue-raising proposals to Shapps some three weeks late, giving him little choice but to extend negotiations. Khan countered this by alleging that 'unfair' conditions, such as raising council tax, are being attached to any new funding deal that would "punish Londoners" for the effect the pandemic has had on passenger numbers. He added: "These short-term deals are trapping TfL on life support rather than putting it on the path to long-term sustainability." January 12 2022, “Network News: Further extension to Transport for London emergency funding”, in RAIL, number 948, page 8
2. (boxing) To return a blow while receiving one, as in boxing.
3. 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. 2012-12-14, Simon Jenkins, “We mustn't overreact to North Korea boys' toys”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 2, page 23
4. (transitive, obsolete) To encounter.

adj

1. Contrary or opposing
   His carrying a knife was counter to my plan.
   He could not compel Mrs. Proudie to say that the report was untrue; nor could he condescend to make counter hits at her about her own daughter, as his wife would have done. 1861, Anthony Trollope, Framley Parsonage
   Innumerable facts attesting the counter principle. a. 1865, Isaac Taylor, Mind in Form
   It was, however, most interesting work, and the moulders themselves were a decent crowd, never tired of making jokes about themselves such as the hoary one that moulders did not live long, which however ran counter to the other one that no germs could live in a foundry—the atmosphere was too foul. 1944 November and December, A Former Pupil, “Some Memories of Crewe Works—II”, in Railway Magazine, page 342