| 释义 |
▪ I. † counter, n.1 Obs.|ˈkaʊntə(r)|
Forms: 4 cuntre, cunter, 5 countire, cowntere, 6 counter.
[Aphetic form of acuntre, acounter, encounter.]
Encounter, hostile meeting, opposition.
c1330R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 38 Tille þei com to mide⁓weie, cuntre non þei fond. c1350Will. Palerne 1344 Ȝe ne herde neuer, y hope, of so hard a cunter. c1400Melayne 238 At the first countire righte The Sarazen slewe oure cristyn knyghte. 14..Fencing in Rel. Ant. I. 308 Thys ys the ferst cowntere of the too hond swerd. 1591Spenser Tears of Muses 207 With kindly counter vnder Mimick shade.
▪ II. counter, n.2|ˈkaʊntə(r)|
Also 4 countour.
[a. AF. countour = OF. conteor (mod.F. compteur counter, conteur recounter, narrator):—L. computātōr-em, agent-n. f. computāre to compute, count.]
1. a. One who counts, reckons, or calculates.
13..MS. Cott. Calig. A. ii. f. 110 (Halliw.) Ther is no countere nor clerke Con hem recken alle. 1369[see counter n.3 3.] a1420Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 25 In my purs, so grete sommes be, That there nys counter in alle cristente Whiche that kan at ony nombre sette. 1483Cath. Angl. 78 A Cownter, compotista. 1769Smith in Phil. Trans. LIX. 309, I did not even hear the feet of the four counters, who had passed behind me from the windows to the clock.
b. In the House of Commons: One who causes the House to be counted.
1861Sat. Rev. 27 May 527 A counter is looked upon in the House with the same sort of individual dread..that is accorded out of the House to an informer or a hangman.
†2. A serjeant-at-law, etc.: see countour. Obs.
3. a. An apparatus for keeping count of revolutions, strokes of a piston, etc. [Cf. F. compteur gas-meter.]
1803Phil. Trans. XCIII. 145 A counter is placed so as to show the number of revolutions of the windlass. 1823Mechanic's Mag. No. 1. 4 By fixing a counter on the beam of one engine..the number of strokes made..was ascertained. 1829R. Stuart Anecd. Steam Engines I. 275 This..counter was formed of a series of small wheels, shut up in a box, having a dial and index hand, to show how many revolutions had been made.
b. An instrument for counting or recording ionizing events. Freq. preceded by a defining word, as Geiger, scintillation counter (see these). Also attrib.
1924Proc. Camb. Phil. Soc. XXII. 434 The a-particle counter, the prototype of which was used by Rutherford and Geiger, is an ionization chamber in which one of the electrodes is a fine point or small sphere, the other being either a plane or the case of the chamber itself. Ibid. 452 The registration by a counter of a-particles from polonium. 1930[see Geiger]. 1930[see count n.1 2 d]. 1955Gloss. Terms Radiology (B.S.I.) 22 Counter, a device which reacts to individual ionizing events, thus enabling them to be detected. 1956A. H. Compton Atomic Quest 42 The first reliable counter measurements of cosmic rays at various latitudes.
▪ III. counter, n.3|ˈkaʊntə(r)|
Forms: 4– counter; also 4 counture, (5 cowntewery, countre, 6 cowntier), 5–6 countor, -our, 5–7 cownter, 6– compter.
[a. AF. counteour, countour, in OF. conteoir, -eor, -oer, whence conteour, contouer, in 14–15th c. comptouer, comptouoir, mod.F. comptoir:—L. computātōrium (in med.L. 1364, Du Cange), f. computāre to compute, count + -orium. As this became, like the prec., countour, -or in AF., they are both counter in mod.Eng. The form cowntewery points to an AF. counteori or countoueri.]
I.
1. Anything used in counting or keeping account: †a. A round piece of metal, ivory, or other material, formerly used in performing arithmetical operations. Obs.
αc1310Know Thyself 38 in E.E.P. (1862) 131 Sitte doun and take countures rounde.. And for vche a synne lay þou doun on Til þou þi synnes haue souȝt vp and founde. 1496in Ld. Treas. Acc. Scot. I. 300 A nest of cowntouris to the King. 1515Barclay Egloges iii. (1570) C ij/1 The kitchin clarke..Jengling his counters, chatting himselfe alone. 1530Palsgr. 684/1, I shall reken it syxe tymes by aulgorisme or you can caste it ones by counters [par jectons]. 1542Recorde Gr. Artes 86 b, Nowe that you have learned..Arithmetike with the penne, you shall see the same Arte in Counters. 1579G. Harvey Letter-bk. (Camden) 66 Marchantes counters which nowe and then stande for hundreds and thousands, by and bye for odd halfpens or farthinges and otherwhiles for very nihils. 1609Holland Amm. Marcell. xxxi. iv. 405 They assayed many times to cast with counters, and comprise the full number of them. 1712Arbuthnot John Bull (1755) 2 [They] never used to dirty their fingers with pen, ink, and counters. 1801Strutt Sports & Past. iv. ii. 277 The stones and shells were laid aside, and counters made with ivory became their substitutes.
β1540Act 32 Hen. VIII, c. 14 Item for euery nest of compters .xviii.s. 1599Sandys Europæ Spec. (1632) 235 Praying by tale with Sainct Dominicks round compters. 1611Shakes. Wint. T. iv. iii. 38 Euery tod yeeldes pound and odde shilling: fifteene hundred shorne, what comes the wooll too?.. I cannot do't without Compters. 1698J. Crull Muscovy 173 Arithmetick..which they perform by the help of Plumb-Stones instead of Compters.
b. In later times used chiefly in keeping an account or reckoning in games of chance, esp. cards. (These counters are of various shapes, according to convenience.)
1579Tomson Calvin's Serm. Tim. 105/2 They cast it into the winde, they played with it as with a counter. a1600Tom Thumbe 61 in Hazl. E.P.P. II. 179 Where he for counters, pinns and points, and cherry stones did play. 1674Cotton Compl. Gamester in Singer Hist. Cards 345 He that hath first played away his cards demands as many counters as there are cards in the hands of the rest. 1709Steele Tatler No. 15 ⁋4 They were marking their game with Counters. 1732Berkeley Alciphr. vii. §8 Counters..at a card-table are used..as signs substituted for money. 1874Burnand My Time vii. 61 Card-playing..for counters at two-pence a dozen. 1878H. H. Gibbs Ombre 8 The Counters should be of various shapes—round, oblong, and long or fish-shaped.
c. Also, applied to the ‘pieces’ or ‘men’ used in playing shovelboard, chess, draughts and other games; also fig.
1605R. Armin Foole upon F. (1880) 21 All alone he playd at slide groate, as his manner was: peeces or counters he had none. 1865Merivale Rom. Emp. VIII. lxvii. 299 The mass of the emperor's subjects..were moved as counters by the hands of a central government. 1874Green Short Hist. vii. 368 The noblest aims and lives were only counters on her board.
2. a. An imitation coin of brass or inferior metal; a token used to represent real coin; hence often rhetorically contrasted with real coins, as being only their temporary representatives or counterfeits.
1526Skelton Magnyf. 1186 Nay, offer hym a counter in stede of a peny. 1601Dent Pathw. Heaven (1831) 24 A fool believeth every thing: that copper is gold, and a counter an angel. 1651Hobbes Leviath. i. iv. 15 Words are wise mens counters, they do but reckon by them: but they are the mony of fooles. 1689Lond. Gaz. No. 2498/4 A silver box of Counters stampt with Kings and Queens heads, etc. 1702C. Mather Magn. Chr. iii. i. iii. (1852) 309 He sent her a brass counter, a silver crown, and a gold jacobus. 1796T. Jefferson Writ. (1859) IV. 152 Counters will pay this from the poor in spirit; but from you, my friend, coin was due. 1796Burke Regic. Peace i. Wks. VIII. 152 Silver, not as now a sort of counter, but the body of the current coin. 1855Browning Statue & Bust, The true has no value beyond the sham. As well the counter as coin, I submit. 1868Daily News 23 Oct., How easy it is to pay fools with the counters of words instead of with the money of thought.
b. Also applied to debased coin, and contemptuously to money generally.
1601Shakes. Jul. C. iv. iii. 80 When Marcus Brutus growes so Couetous To locke such Rascall Counters from his Friends. 1724Swift Drapier's Lett. ii, Does Mr. Wood think, we will sell him a stone of wool for a parcel of his counters not worth sixpence. 1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. 582 He was robbed indirectly by a new issue of counters, smaller in size and baser in material than any which had yet borne the image and superscription of James.
c. As the type of a thing of no intrinsic value.
1600Shakes. A.Y.L. ii. vii. 63 What, for a Counter, would I do, but good? 1664H. More Myst. Iniq. 554 Childish squabling about Nut-shells, Counters and Cherry stones. 1682― Lett. Sev. Subjects (1694) 32 Stickling to get the most Counters and Cherry-cobs.
II.
†3. A table or desk for counting money, keeping accounts, etc.; a bureau. Obs.
In quot. 1369 perh. an abacus or counting-board.
c1369Chaucer Dethe Blaunche 436 Thogh Argus the noble covnter [v.r. countour] Sete to rekene in hys counter [v.r. countour].
1453Marg. Paston in P. Lett. No. 185 I. 250 The draute chamer, ther as ye wold your cofors and cowntewery shuld be sette for the whyle; and ther is no space besyde the bedd..for to sette both your bord and your kofors ther. 1493Bury Wills (1850) 81, I bequethe to Kateryn my wyff my countour stondyng in my parlour. 1504Ibid. 98 A fetherbed and a tabyll callyd a countour. 1521Test. Ebor. (Surtees) V. 203 Unum magnum cowntier stans in aula. 1587Wills & Inv. N.C. (Surtees) II. 306 One fetherbed..standing in the westmost chamber, and the best counter, that is in the same chamber.
4. a. A banker's or money-changer's table; also, the table in a shop on which the money paid by purchasers is counted out, and across which goods are delivered. The tradesman stands behind the counter; goods are sold and money paid over the counter.
(In modern times the shop-counter is also used for the display of goods, but this is not implied in the name.)
α1688R. Holme Armoury iii. 259/1 He [is]..behind a Counter or Counting Table. 1701De Foe True-born Eng. 25 Fate has but very small Distinction set Betwixt the Counter and the Coronet. 1712Arbuthnot John Bull (1755) 2 Sometimes you would see him behind his counter selling broad-cloth. 1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. 215 [He] might walk into a shop, lay on the counter a bit of brass worth threepence, and carry off goods to the value of half a guinea. 1875Jevons Money (1878) 252 Pay it back over the counter to the credit of his account with the same banker. 1889Times (Weekly ed.) 31 May 7/4 In fair days he would take some {pstlg}40 over the counter.
β1699Garth Dispens. iii. 30 Then from the Compter he takes down the File. 1731Fielding New Way ii. ii, Do you sit behind a desk, or stand behind a compter? 1798Anti-Jacobin xxvi. 136 Each spruce nymph from city compters free. 1826Miss Mitford Village Ser. ii. (1863) 324 Mrs. Bennet, milliner..who..marshalled a compter full of caps and bonnets at one side of the shop.
b. Phr. under the counter, used with reference to illegal or clandestine transactions.
1926A. Huxley Jesting Pilate iv. 284 One at least of my own novels has to be sold under the counter as though it were whiskey. 1945Evening Standard 20 Dec., Chief goods to ‘go under the counter’ are fully fashioned silk stockings, watches and silk handkerchiefs. 1946Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. L. 246/2 There is too much of the ‘under the counter’ method. It is essential that opportunities for such courses should be advertised openly. 1960H. Agar Saving Remnant viii. 204 Aside from under-the-counter help..Arazi had few funds. 1961H. S. Turner Something Extraordinary ii. 27 Rude verses, under-the-counter pin-ups and obscene novelties. 1969New Yorker 31 May 78/2 ‘De Sade Illustrated’, another version of the same under-the-counter classic, is also around.
†5. A counting-house:
a. In early use. Obs.
c1386Chaucer Shipman's T. 213 Vp to hir housbande is this wyf ygon And knokketh at his Countour [v.r. counter] boldely. 1431Test. Ebor. ii. (Surtees) 16 Omnia instrumenta et necessaria shopæ meæ ad le meltynghouse et ad countor meum spectantia. 1530Palsgr. 209/2 Counter, a countyng house, comptoyr.
b. In 18–19th c. after F. comptoir.
1736Berkeley App. to Querist ii. §136 Whether it would not be right to build the compters and public treasuries..without wood. 1809Ann. Reg. 861/1 England is only sensible in her compters.
III. †6. The office, court, or hall of justice of a mayor. Obs.
1479Mayor of Bristol in Eng. Gilds (1870) 426 The Maire and Shiref..to kepe theire due residence at the Counter euery Feryall day. a1734North Exam. iii. viii. §44 (1740) 616 The law Province was restored to its Seat in the several Counters, and the Sherriffs opened their Halls.
7. The prison attached to such a city court; the name of certain prisons for debtors, etc. in London, Southwark, and some other cities and boroughs. In this sense the official spelling from the 17th c. was Compter, q.v. Obs. exc. Hist.
1388[see counter-tenor 1 b for play upon this word]. 1428E.E. Wills (1882) 78 The prisons of Ludgate..And the Countours. 1476Plumpton Corr. 36 He..gart him be sett in the Countre, till he founde sewerte to answer at the Gildehall for the cloth. 1480Caxton Chron. Eng. ccxxxix. 265 They..brake vp the prison of newgate and drafe oute al the prisoners and of both countours..and destroyed alle the bookes of bothe counters. 1556Chron. Gr. Friars (Camden) 96 Item the xxvij. day of September after was the counter in Bredstret removyd in-to Wood-strete. 1598B. Jonson Ev. Man in Hum. ii. i, He is got into one o' your citie pounds, the Counters. 1645E. Pagitt Heresiogr. (1662) 215 He was committed by the Lord Mayor to the Counter, and from thence removed to the new prison in Maiden Lane. 1681W. Robertson Phraseol. Gen. (1693) 398 A counter or prison, carcer. [See Compter.]
IV.
8. attrib. and Comb., as (sense 3) counter-cloth; (sense 4) counter-dandy, counter-flap, counter-girl, counter-hand, counter-keeper, counter-top; (sense 5) counter-door, counter-house; (sense 7) counter-book, counter-gate, counter-scuffle, counter-wall; counter-case, a flat case to lie on a shop-counter; † counter-caterpillar, ? slang name for a constable; † counter-rat, (a) slang name for an inferior officer of a Counter; (b) a criminal inmate of a Counter; counter-skipper = counter-jumper. Also counter-jumper, -man.
1630J. Taylor (Water P.) Wks. (N.), Though base and trebles, fortune did me grant, Yet to make up the musicke, I must looke The tenor in the cursed *counter-booke. 1631Wat Tyler in Evans O.B. (1784) I. li. 282 Into the counters then they get, Where men in prison lay for debt; They broke the doors and let them out, And threw the counter-books about.
1707E. Ward Hud. Rediv. II. 6 These *Compter-Caterpillars, These Hawk-ey'd Shoulder-dabbling Dealers.
1541Lanc. Wills I. 129 A *cownter clothe xvjd.
1848Thackeray Bk. Snobs xxvii, Young *counter-dandies are displaying their wares.
c1386Chaucer Shipman's T. 85 Ffor which ful faste his *Countour dore he shette.
1922Joyce Ulysses 117 He lifted the *counterflap. 1968P. Geddes High Game ii. 17 Venniker lifted the counter flap but before he could move through there was a touch on his shoulder.
1598Shakes. Merry W. iii. iii. 85 Thou mightst as well say, I loue to walke by the *Counter-gate. 1710E. Ward Brit. Hud., Go see 'em strait, I charge you, in at Counter-Gate.
a1902F. Norris Vandover (1914) 91 A couple of girls, the *counter girls at one of the candy booths, came down the stairs. 1966N. Freeling King of Rainy Country 38 She had taken a job in an expensive flashy shop as countergirl, selling sports clothes.
1893G. B. Shaw Imposs. Anarchism 13 The cost of scales and weights, coin, book-keepers, *counter-hands. 1927Daily Express 17 Feb. 5/3 She..had been both a counter-hand and a mannequin before she was promoted to chief saleswoman.
c1386Chaucer Shipman's T. 77 And vp in to his *Countour hous gooth he.
1804Edin. Rev. V. 6 The wretched perversion of judgement which uniformly ranks..*counter keepers..before the honest ploughman.
a1613Overbury Char., Sargeant's Yeoman, This *counter-rat..hath not his full halfe-share of the booty. 1707E. Ward Hud. Rediv. II. 6 Looking as rough as Counter Rats.
1858R. S. Surtees Ask Mamma xxv. 97 She..taught them..how to speak to a doctor, how to a *counter-skipper. 1859Sat. Rev. VII. 191/2 A counter-skipper in a small linen-draper's shop.
1897M. Kingsley W. Africa 17 Some brutal tradesmen..affix tremendous nails..to the fronts of their *counter tops, in order to keep their visitors at a respectful distance. 1908Westm. Gaz. 11 Sept. 2/1 A child whose lint-white head scarcely reaches the counter-top.
1607Heywood Fair Maid Exch. Wks. 1874 II. 31 Sentences..for posteritie to carve Vpon the inside of the *Counter wall.
▪ IV. counter, n.4|ˈkaʊntə(r)|
[In senses 1, 2, f. counter a. or adv.: of senses 3–4 the history is uncertain, and perhaps they ought to be treated separately.]
I.
1. Hunting. The opposite direction to the course taken by the game; see counter adv. 1.
1575Turberv. Venerie 121 The huntesmen..must take good heede that theyr houndes take not the counter by cause the harte is fledde backwardes. Ibid. 205 Or els hunteth backe himself by the counter of hir footing. 1674N. Cox Gentl. Recreat. i. (1706) 87 That the Hounds may not think it the Counter she came first.
2. The contrary, opposite.
1871Tennyson Last Tourn. 80 Whatsoever his own knights have sworn My knights have sworn the counter to it.
II.
3. That part of a horse's breast which lies between the shoulders and under the neck.
1678tr. Gaya's Art of War i. 25 [They] present the Pike to the height of the Horses Counters. 1727–31Bailey vol. II, Counter is that part of the fore-hand of a horse, that lies between the shoulder and under the neck. 1805Scott Last Minstr. i. xxix, For he was barbed from counter to tail, And the rider was armed complete in mail. 1841Lever C. O'Malley xlv, The poor beast..had been killed by a bullet in the counter. 1851Mayne Reid Scalp Hunt. xxix, His throat, counter, and shoulders.
4. Naut.
a. The curved part of the stern of a ship.
‘The counter above extends from the gun-deck line, or lower ribbon moulding of the cabin windows, to the water-line (or seat of water); the lower counter is arched below that line, and constitutes the hollow run’ (Smyth Sailor's Word-bk.).
1626Capt. Smith Accid. Yng. Seamen 11 The round⁓house, the counters, the wayst. 1627― Seaman's Gram. ii. 11 The hollow arching betwixt the lower part of the Gallery and the Transome, is called the lower Counter; the vpper Counter is from the Gallery to the arch of the round house. 1769Falconer Dict. Marine (1789), Counter, an arch..whose upper-part is terminated by the bottom of the stern, and the lower-part by the wing-transom and buttock. 1805in Nicolas Disp. Nelson VII. 195 note, Several shot-holes in the hull—one in the under counter 3½ feet under water. 1864Athenæum No. 1926. 410/3 The explosion of the torpedo under her counter. 1883W. C. Russell Sea Queen iii. xi. 243 When her bows lifted and she dipped her counter in the black water.
b. Comb. counter-rail, -timber (see quots.).
1815Falconer's Dict. Marine, Countertimbers, short timbers in the stern, put in..for..strengthening the counter. c1850Rudim. Navig. (Weale) 112 Counter-rails, the ornamental rails athwart the stern into which the counters finish. 1867in Smyth Sailor's Word-bk.
5. Typogr.
a. A depression in the face of type, reproducing the effect of a counter-punch, or an equivalent effect got by engraving the punch; a white space that is partly or wholly enclosed within a printed letter.
1798in T. B. Reed Hist. Old Eng. Letter Foundries (1887) xiv. 293 Great care has been taken to have the Counterpart deeply cut, by which means [the type] will wear much longer. 1876T. L. De Vinne Invention of Printing iii. 54 This counter-punch is an engraving, in high relief, of the hollow or counter of that interior part of the letter..which does not show black in the printed impression. 1883Encycl. Brit. XXIII. 698/1 The spaces at h and h are the counters, which regulate the distances apart of the stems in a line of type. 1892A. Oldfield Man. Typogr. xxii. 163 The stems should be of a good depth down to the shoulder and counter. 1898,1902[see counter-punch 2]. 1945J. C. Tarr Printing Today vi. 61 The counter (or interior area) is struck in by means of a counter-punch.
b. = counter-die.
1893Funk's Stand. Dict., Counter.., a depressed or perforated block opposing a die or punch. 1917F. S. Henry Printing for School & Shop xiv. 242 The next step is the making of the counter.
6. Skating. A turn in which the body is revolved in a direction opposite to that in which it was revolved in the previous turns. Called also counter-rocker, counter-rocking turn.
1892T. M. Witham in Heathcote & Tebbutt Skating iii. 107 In the rockers and counters (which figures used to be designated rocking turns and counter-rocking turns), although there is a change of direction the nature of the edge is preserved. Ibid. 111 A counter may..be regarded as half a bracket plus half a three. 1898Encycl. Sport II. 366/2 The four counter-rocking turns. Counter-rocking turns or counters are turns in which one edge of the skate only is used, the body being revolved in an opposite or counter direction to that in which it is revolved in the corresponding ‘three’ turns. 1902Encycl. Brit. XXXII. 642/2 The ‘star’, consisting of four crosses (forward rocker, back loop, back counter). 1908E. F. Benson Eng. Figure Skating 244 ‘Once counter back’ is forward counter and inside back. 1928Daily Express 19 Dec. 15/4 Her pirouettes, toe-spins, and counter-rockers. 1967Daily Tel. 1 Mar. 12/6 Miss Stapleford made an excellent start in the first figure, the forward inside counter.
▪ V. counter, n.5|ˈkaʊntə(r)|
[ad. F. contre, It. contro, in same sense, a substantival use of the prep. contre, contro against.]
1. Fencing. A name applied to all circular parries, i.e. parries in which, while the hand retains the same position, the point is made to describe a circle, passing under the adverse blade so as to meet it again when the latter is ‘disengaged’, i.e. removed from engagement. Called also counter-parry, formerly † counter-parade, counter-caveating parade.
The particular engagement is indicated by an addition, as counter-prime, -seconde, -tierce, -quarte (-carte), -quinte, -sixte, -septime, -octave (now in practice reduced to four, -seconde, -tierce, -quarte, -septime).
[1611Florio, Contro, as Contra in all compositions. Also a Counter.] 1684R.H. School Recreat. 67 The Counter Caveating Parade, &c. When you observe your Adversary's Thrust coming home within your Sword, then immediately slope your Point, and bring it up again with a quick Motion on the other side of your Adversary's, and parrie his Thrust without your Sword, that he intended to give within your Sword. Ibid. 74 This may be Parry'd, by answering every Motion, or using the Counter-caveating Parade. 1707[see caveat v. 3]. 1809Roland Fencing 64 To form a counter parade..at the time you disengage, I pass with a small circular motion under your wrist, or blade, and return, by forming my parade in nearly the same position I was in previously to your disengagement. 1889W. H. Pollock, etc. Fencing (Badm. Libr.) ii. 57 Counters are named according to the engagement from which the parry is made. Ibid. 58 Reversed Counter-parries. These, as the name indicates, are the ordinary counter-parries executed the opposite way.
2. Broadsword play. An attack made as the adversary himself leads to attack. The stronger attack takes the advantage.
3. Pugilism. A blow delivered as the adversary leads off; really a time-hit, which, if stronger than the adverse one, secures the advantage.
A counter with the other hand is called a cross-counter; e.g. if the adversary leads off with his left, he may be cross-countered with the right.
1861Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. viii, My length of arm gave me the advantage in every counter. 1889Badminton Libr., Boxing 161 The leader-off has to take the counter in full face.
▪ VI. counter, n.6 Shoemaking.|ˈkaʊntə(r)|
[Short for counterfort, in F. contrefort.]
The piece of stiff leather forming the back part of a shoe or boot round the heel.
1841Penny Cycl. XXI. 410/2 The closing of the vamp and counter to the leg [of the boot]. 1883F. D. Y. Carpenter Round about Rio, When a [Brazilian] buys a new pair of slippers his first object is to break the counters down out of the way. 1892Oxford Chron. 7 May 6/2 The heel may be built a little higher on one side, and a stiff counter used.
▪ VII. counter, n.7 Music.|ˈkaʊntə(r)|
Short for counter-tenor; also app. any voice part set in contrast to a principal melody or part.
1869Mrs. Stowe Oldtown Folks 60 Uncle Eliakim..tuning up in a high, cracked voice, a weird part, in those days called counter. 1878― Poganuc P. vii. 56 Ben..beating and roaring, first to treble and then to counter and then to bass.
▪ VIII. counter, n.8 Mining.
Also dial. caunter q.v.
Short for counter-lode; also for counter-gangway (see quot.).
1881Raymond Mining Gloss., Counter, (1) a cross-vein; (2) a gangway driven obliquely upwards on a coal-seam from the main gangway until it cuts off the faces of the workings, and then continues parallel with the main gangway.
▪ IX. counter, a.|ˈkaʊntə(r)|
[Arising chiefly from combinations in counter- (esp. in senses 6, 9), with subsequent extension to more or less analogous instances, e.g. counter-current, counter current, the currents are counter. In many cases it is not possible to draw any line of demarcation between counter adj., and counter- pref.: see under the latter.]
Acting in opposition; lying or tending in the opposite direction; having an opposite tendency, to the opposite effect; opposed, opposite: cf. senses of counter- prefix. Mostly attrib.
1596Spenser F.Q. vi. xii. 1 A ship..met of many a counter winde and tyde. 1662Evelyn Chalcogr. 118 The Sensation of Relievo..by one, or more hatches, cross and counter. 1780Ld. Stirling in Sparks Corr. Amer. Rev. (1853) III. 5 He might..send them counter orders. 1836–7Sir W. Hamilton Metaph. xii. (1870) 218 The counter doctrine is self-repugnant. 1842Tennyson Golden Year 7 We crost Between the lakes, and clamber'd half way up The counter side. 1844Bp. Wilberforce Amer. Ch. (1846) 161 Having founded a counter episcopate. 1847De Quincey Secret Soc. Wks. (1863) VI. 305 The answer is found precisely in the parallel case of the counter sect. 1857― Wks. (1871) XVI. 238 note, In one direction..and..in the counter direction. 1864Tennyson Aylmer's F. 282 Withdrawing by the counter door to that Which Leolin open'd. 1879Farrar St. Paul II. 447 To combat false doctrine..by the presentation of the counter truth.
b. Duplicate; serving as a check (see counter- 8).
1823Southey Hist. Penins. War I. 112 The magistrate..was to deliver in a list of all the owners of fishing boats..a counter list was to be kept on board the floating battery.
c. Rarely predicative: Opposite, contrary.
1856Emerson Eng. Traits iv. Race Wks. (Bohn) II. 22 The currents of thought are counter.
▪ X. counter, v.1|ˈkaʊntə(r)|
Forms: 4 cuntre, cunter, 4–5 countur, -our, 4–6 countre, 5 cownter, contre, countire, cowuntur, 5– counter, (6– Sc. conter).
[In senses 1, 2, aphetic form of acounter, encounter; in sense 3, influenced by, if not formed afresh from, counter- prefix; sense 5 goes with counter n.5 sense 3. But in later use all the senses tend to mutual association; cf. 1813 in 2 b.]
I.
†1. trans. To meet. Obs.
c1325Coer de L. 60 Whenne they come on mydde the sea..Another schip they countryd thoo. 1813Scott Rokeby iii. x, His eyes..Counter'd at once a dazzling glance.
†b. intr. (with again = against). Obs.
c1475Partenay 1640 Lordys of contre contring thaim again With a wilfull hert full gentilly resceyuyng. Ibid. 3346 The messingere lefte contred hym again.
2. trans. To meet in opposition; to encounter or engage in combat.
c1400Destr. Troy 1191 Duke Nestor anon, nobli arayed, Countres the kyng. c1475Partenay 3030 Gaffroy cam faste contring the Geaunt then. 1513Bradshaw St. Werburge i. 236 Fewe of them haue countred..great nombre of enemyes. 1557Paynel Barclay's Jugurth B ij b, Often tymes countryng his enemies without dred of perill.
b. intr. (Const. with.)
1330R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 38 With þe erle of Kent þei countred at Medeweie. c1380Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. I. 207 [Men] myȝt fle fro toun to toun and nevere countre wiþ her enemyes. 1430Lydg. Chron. Troy iii. xxiii, As they countre..Eueryche vnhorsed knightly hath his feare. c1465Eng. Chron. (Camden) 80 There bothe hostes mette and countred to gedre. 15..Eger & Grime 144 (Furniv. Percy Folio I. 358) To counter on ffoote he was full throe. 1813Scott Trierm. ii. xx, Blithe at the trumpet let them go, And fairly counter blow for blow.
II.
3. trans. (fig.) To go counter to, to act or speak in opposition to, or so as to check; to oppose, encounter, contradict, controvert.
1382Wyclif Prol. to O. Test. 55 Heere Sire..countrith not Austen, but declareth him ful mychel to symple mennis witt. c1420Pallad. on Husb. iii. 66 Se the profession Of every vyne, and wherin thai myscheve As counter it. a1649Drummond of Hawthornden Skiamachia Wks. (1711) 190 The two houses..issued out a declaration..To counter this, the king sent a message..to the lords of his council in Scotland. a1734North Exam. ii. iv. §31 (1740) 246 To all which Matters..his Answer countered every Design of the Interrogations. 1840Whistlebinkie (Sc. Songs) (1890) I. 254 Wha conters him may rue the same. 1884Earl of Dunraven in 19th Cent. Mar. 426 The resolution..was..countered by an amendment. 1892A. Robertson St. Athanasius Proleg. 19 The ‘eternity’ of the Son was countered by the text, ‘We that live are alway’ (2 Cor. iv. 11). 1892J. M. Barrie Lit. Minister xxvi. 280 That's what I say; but Elspeth conters me, of course, and says she, etc.
b. Chess. To meet or answer with a countermove.
1890Times 12 Dec. 5/6 White moved his Kt to B. 2, which Black countered with R. to K. square. 1891Sat. Rev. 28 Mar. 394/1 The system by which they were countered and checkmated.
†4. intr. (fig.) To engage in contest, argue in opposition, dispute, retort against, with. Obs.
c1449Pecock Repr. i. xiii. 72 Who euer wole..countre aȝens the firste conclusioun. 1542Udall Erasm. Apoph. 41 b, Then Diogenes again countreyng saied, If Aristippus had learned to be contented, etc. 1548― etc. Erasm. Par. John x. 74 b, We wil not counter with them and geue rebuke for rebuke. 1589Puttenham Eng. Poesie iii. xix. (Arb.) 220 So cunning and so wise, To counter vvith her goodman, and all by contraries.
III. 5. Boxing. To give a return blow while receiving or parrying the blow of an antagonist; to strike with a counter-blow. Also transf. and fig. a. trans.
1861Hughes Tom Brown Oxf. xlv, Of course I countered him there with tremendous effect. 1865Sat. Rev. 9 Dec. 724 We are glad to set down the author of such smart hits as a misanthrope, because it is easier to counter than to parry them.
b. intr.
1857Hughes Tom Brown ii. iii, Instead of trying to counter, and leading his enemy. 1885Sat. Rev. 7 Nov. 600 Lord Randolph Churchill and Mr. Chamberlain have, in the language of an almost lost art, ‘countered’ heavily during the past week. 1889Badminton Libr., Boxing 166 Instead of thus countering on the head the blow may be aimed at the ribs.
▪ XI. † counter, v.2 Mus. Obs.
[f. F. contre against: cf. OF. contre-chanter in same sense, and counter n. 7]
intr. To sing an accompaniment to a melody or plain-song. Hence countering vbl. n.
c1440Promp. Parv., Cowntryn [in] songe, occento. Cownterynge yn songe, concentus [v.r. occentus]. 1509Barclay Shyp Folys (1570) 117 Some rore, some countre, some their balades fayne. a1529Skelton Laureate Wks. I. 16 He trymmyth in hys tenor to counter pyrdewy. ― Garl. Laurel 705 There was counteryng of carollis in meter and verse. ― Bowge of Courte 365 Counter he coude O Lux vpon a potte. ― P. Sparowe 468 The threstyl with her warblyng..The countrynge of the coe. 1562J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 186 Nor the counter tennor for countryng to long.
▪ XII. ˈcounter, v.3
[f. counter n.3]
trans. To furnish (a shop, etc.) with a counter or counters.
1844Dickens Mart. Chuz. xxvii, The offices were..newly countered.
▪ XIII. ˈcounter, v.4 Shoemaking.
[f. counter n.6]
trans. To furnish (a shoe) with a counter.
In mod. Dicts.
▪ XIV. counter, adv.|ˈkaʊntə(r)|
[a. F. contre (OF. cuntre, AF. countre); see counter- prefix. The adverbial use has mainly arisen by analysis and separation of verbs and verbal ns. in counter-: e.g. to counteract, countermarch, to act or march counter; so to run counter, etc.]
1. In the opposite direction, back again. to hunt, run, go counter: i.e. in a direction opposite to that which the game has taken; following the scent or trail of game in the reverse direction. Also fig.
c1446Pol. Poems (1859) II. 224 Now ye han founde parfite, love welle your game; For and ye renne countre thenne be ye to blame. 1575Turberv. Venerie 243 When a hounde hunteth backwardes the same way that the chase is come, then we say he hunteth counter. 1602Shakes. Ham. iv. v. 110 How cheerefully on the false Traile they cry. Oh this is Counter, you false Danish Dogges. 1624Quarles Job Div. Poems (1717) 203 Forwards they went, on either hand, and back Return'd they counter. 1648Milton Tenure Kings (1650) 57 Sometimes they seem to march on, and presently march counter. 1741Compl. Fam. Piece ii. i. 292 The great skill in hunting the Buck, is to keep the Hounds from hunting Counter. 1826Scott Woodst. iv, Hunting counter, or running a false scent.
†2. Against the front (of anything), in full face.
1615G. Sandys Trav. (J.), They hit one another with darts, as the other do with their hands, which they never throw counter, but at the back of the flyer. 1654H. L'Estrange Chas. I (1655) 68 The enemy..coming counter and travers of our Canon, they received the greater losse.
3. fig. In opposition or antagonism; contrary; esp. in phrase to run, go, act counter (to).
1643Sir T. Browne Relig. Med. i. 55 The practice of men..often runs counter to their theory. 1681Hickeringill News fr. Colchester Wks. (1716) I. 396 If..the Villain swear Counter afterwards. 1768Sterne Sent. Journ., Nampont, Postillion, Here am I sitting as candidly disposed to make the best of the worst, as ever wight was, and all runs counter. 1837Newman Par. Serm. (ed. 2) III. xix. 302 Let us go counter to Tradition rather than to Scripture. 1858Carlyle Fredk. Gt. (1865) I. ii. xiv. 130 At least Sigismund voted clearly so, and Jobst said nothing counter. 1874Green Short Hist. viii. 478 A policy at home and abroad which ran counter to every national instinct.
†b. Contrariwise. Obs.
1662Hickeringill Serm. Wks. (1716) I. 302 Our new Gospellers, just counter, do not walk much like Christians, but can talk Christianly.
†4. In opposite directions to each other. Obs.
1601Bp. W. Barlow Defence 120 Two foxes tied by the tailes, and their heades turned counter. 1662Hickeringill Serm. Wks. (1716) I. 279 The wheels of Providence..may move counter, yet each motion concur to make it go the better. a1704Locke (J.), In this case, it is plain, the will and the desire run counter.
▪ XV. † ˈcounter, prep. Obs. rare.
[a. AF. countre, F. contre against.]
Against, contrary to.
c1420Pallad. on Husb. i. 259 Other wey to wirche is counter reason. Ibid. xi. 442 Goode stomak wyne and counter pestilence Thus make. |