counter (n.)

  1. table consisting of a horizontal surface over which business is transacted

  2. 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

  3. a calculator that keeps a record of the number of times something happens

    [ Syn: tabulator ]

  4. a piece of furniture that stands at the side of a dining room; has shelves and drawers

    [ Syn: buffet , sideboard ]

  5. a person who counts things

  6. a quick reply to a question or remark (especially a witty or critical one); it brought a sharp rejoinder from the teacher

    [ Syn: rejoinder , retort , return , riposte , replication , comeback ]

  7. (computer science) a register whose contents go through a regular series of states (usually states indicating consecutive integers)

  8. a piece of leather forming the back of a shoe or boot; a counter may be used to stiffen the material around the heel and to give support to the foot

    [ Syn: heel counter ]

  9. a return punch (especially by a boxer)

    [ Syn: counterpunch , parry ]

    counter (adv.)

  1. in the opposite direction; run counter'

    counter (adj.)

  1. indicating opposition or resistance

    [ Syn: antagonistic ]

    counter (v.)

  1. speak in response; He countered with some very persuasive arguments'

  2. act in advance of; deal with ahead of time

    [ Syn: anticipate , foresee , forestall ]

The dictionary is based on the WordNet Electronic Lexical Database.
WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2011 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.