Dictionary
An American Dictionary of the English Language
Revised and enlarged (Goodrich & Porter)
Springfield, Mass. · G. & C. Merriam · 1865
- Entries
- 95,912
- Pages
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- Illustrations
- 2,133
Look up a word as the writers of the time used it.
Coun'ter, n. p. 301One who counts, or keeps an account; that which indicates a number. 2. A piece of metal, ivory, wood, and the like, in the form of a coin, used in reckoning. What comes the wool to? I can not do it…Coun'ter, a. p. 301Contrary; opposite. “Innumerable facts attesting the counter principle.” I. Taylor.Coun'ter, adv. p. 301Contrary; in opposition; in an opposite direction; contrariwise;—used chiefly with run or go. He thinks it brave . . . to signalize himself by running counter to all the rules of virtue. Locke. 2. In…Coun'ter, v. i. p. 301(Boxing.) To encounter or repel. “His left hand countered provokingly.” C. Kingsley.Coun'ter-âct', v. t. p. 301To act in opposition to; to hinder, defeat, or frustrate, by contrary agency or influence; as, to counteract the effect of medicines; to counteract good advice.Coun'ter-ăc'tion, n. p. 301Action in opposition; hinderance; resistance. The whole business between them and the nominal king will be mutual counteractions. Locke. A power capable of resisting and conquering the counteraction…Coun'ter-āct'ive, n. p. 301One who, or that which, counteracts.Coun'ter-ăct/ive, a. p. 301Tending to counteract.Coun'ter-ăct'ive-ly, adv. p. 301By counteraction.Coun'ter-ap-prōach', n. p. 301(Fort.) A work thrown up to meet those of a besieging force, and so to annoy it. See APPROACH.Coun'ter-at-trâc'tion, n. p. 301Opposite attraction.Coun'ter-at-trăct'ive, a. p. 301Attracting in a different or an opposite direction.Coun'ter-bāl'ance, v. t. p. 301To oppose with an equal weight; to act against with equal power or effect; to countervail; to equiponderate. There was so much air drawn out of the vessel, that the remaining air was not able to…Coun'ter-bāl'ançe, n. p. 301Equal opposing weight; power or agency acting in opposition to any thing; equivalent; as the mass of iron cast on the side of a locomotive engine wheel, opposite the crank-pin, to counterbalance the…Coun'ter-băt'ter-y, n. p. 302(Mil.) A battery which returns the fire of an opposing battery.Coun'ter-bŏnd, n. p. 302A bond to secure from loss or disadvantage one who has given bond for another.Coun'ter-brāce, n. p. 302(Naut.) The brace of the fore-topsail on the leeward side of a vessel.Coun'ter-brâce, v. t. p. 302(Naut.) To brace in opposite directions; as, to counterbrace the yards, i. e., to brace the head-yards one way and the after-yards another. Dana.Coun'ter-bŭff', v. t. p. 302To strike back or in an opposite direction; to drive back; to stop by a blow or impulse in front. Dryden.Coun'ter-bŭff, n. p. 302A blow in an opposite direction; a stroke that stops motion or causes a recoil.Coun'ter-câst, n. p. 302Delusive contrivance; a trick. [Obs.] Spenser.Coun'ter-cāst'er, n. p. 302A caster of accounts; a reckoner; a book-keeper; — used contemptuously.Coun'ter-chānge', v. t. p. 302To give and receive; or to cause to change places; to exchange.Coun'ter-chānge, n. p. 302Exchange; reciprocation.Coun'ter-chānġed', p. a. p. 302Exchanged. 2. (Her.) Intermixed, as the colors of the field and charge.Coun'ter-chärġe, n. p. 302An opposing charge.Coun'ter-chärm', v. t. p. 302To destroy the effect of a charm upon.Coun'ter-chärm, n. p. 302That which has the power of dissolving or opposing the effect of a charm.Coun'ter-check', v. t. p. 302To oppose or stop by some obstacle; to check.Coun'ter-chĕck, n. p. 302Check; stop; rebuke; or a censure to check a reprover.Coun'ter-chĕv'ron-y, n. p. 302(Her.) A division of the field chevron-wise. Ogilvie.Coun'ter-com-pō'ny, n. p. 302(Her.) A border compounded of two rows of panes, or rows of checkers, set checker-wise. Ogilvie.Coun’ter-cou-ränt’, a. p. 302(Her.) Noting the act of running in opposite directions, as animals so borne in a coat of arms. Ogilvie.Coun'ter-cur'rent, a. p. 302Running in an opposite direction.Coun'ter-cŭr'rent, n. p. 302A current in an opposite direction.Coun'ter-deed, n. p. 302(Law.) A secret writing which destroys, invalidates, or alters a public deed.Coun'ter-dis-tin'ction, n. p. 302Contradistinction. [Obs.] More.Coun'ter-drāin, n. p. 302A drain parallel to a canal or embanked water-course, for collecting the water that may soak through. Gwilt.Coun'ter-draw', v. t. p. 302To copy, as a design or painting, by means of oiled paper, or other transparent substance, through which the strokes appear, and are traced with a pencil.Coun'ter-ēv'i-dence, n. p. 302Opposite evidence; evidence or testimony opposing other evidence. Burnet.Coun'ter-fāi'sance, n. p. 302See COUNTER-FESANCE.Coun'ter-feit, v. t. p. 302To imitate, or put on a semblance of, especially for a bad purpose. Full well they laughed with counterfeited glee. At all his jokes, for many a joke had he. Goldsmith. 2. To copy or imitate without…Coun'ter-feit, v. i. p. 302To carry on a deception; to dissemble; to feign; to pretend. The knave counterfeits well; a good knave. Shak.Coun'ter-feit, a. p. 302Representing by imitation or likeness; having a resemblance to. Look here upon this picture, and on this — The counterfeit presentment of two brothers. Shak. 2. Fabricated in imitation of something…Coun'ter-feit, n. p. 302That which is made in imitation of something, with a view to deceive, by passing the false for the true. Some of these counterfeits are fabricated with such exquisite taste and skill, that it is the…Coun'ter-feit-er, n. p. 302One who counterfeits; one who copies or imitates; especially, one who copies or forges bank-notes or coin; a forger. Counterfeiters of money he punished with pulling out their eyes. Baker. 2. One who…Coun'ter-feit-ly, adv. p. 302By forgery; falsely; fictitiously.Coun'ter-fér'ment, n. p. 302Ferment opposed to ferment. Addison.Coun'ter-fē'sance, n. p. 302The act of forging; forgery. [Obs.] [Written also counter-faisance.]Coun'ter-flō'ry, a. p. 302(Her.) Having the flowers with which it is adorned standing opposite to each other;—said of an ordinary.Coun'ter-foil, n. p. 302That part of a tally struck in the exchequer, which is kept by an officer in that court, the other, called the stock, being delivered to the person who has lent the king money on the account;—called…Coun'ter-force, n. p. 302An opposing force.Coun'ter-fōrt, n. p. 302(Fort.) A buttress, spur, or pillar, serving to support a wall or terrace.Coun'ter-gāge, n. p. 302(Carp.) A method used to measure joints, by transferring; as, for instance, by transferring the breadth of a mortise to the place where the tenon is to be made, in order to make them fit each other.…Coun'ter-guàrd, n. p. 302(Fort.) A low work raised before the salient point of a bastion, consisting of two long faces parallel to the faces of the bastion, making a salient angle, to preserve the bastion.Coun'ter-in'flu-ence, v. t. p. 302To hinder by opposing influence. [Rare.]Coun'ter-ir'ri-tant, n. p. 302(Med.) That which is used to produce an irritation in some part of the body, in order to relieve an existing irritation in some other part. Counter-irritants are of as great use in moral as in…Coun'ter-ir'ri-tāte, v. t. p. 302(Med.) To produce counter-irritation in; to affect with one disease for the purpose of curing another.Coun'ter-ir'ri-tā'tion, n. p. 302(Med.) An irritation excited in one part of the body with the view of relieving irritation in another part. Dunglison.Coun'ter-jŭmp'er, n. p. 302A salesman in a shop; a shopman;—used contemptuously.