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counter1

Syllabification: (coun·ter)
Pronunciation: /ˈkountər/
Translate counter | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of counter

noun

  • 1a long flat-topped fixture in a store or bank across which business is conducted with customers.
  • a long flat-topped structure used for serving food and drinks in a cafeteria or bar.
  • North American a countertop.
  • 2an apparatus used for counting:the counter tells you how many pictures you have taken
  • a person who counts something, for example votes in an election.
  • Physics an apparatus used for counting individual ionizing particles or events.
  • 3a small disk used as a place marker or for keeping the score in board games.
  • a token representing a coin.

Phrases

behind the counter

serving in a store or bank:ask the young man behind the counter

over the counter

by ordinary retail purchase, with no need for a prescription or license: [as adjective]:over-the-counter medicines
(of share transactions) taking place outside the stock exchange system.

under the counter (or table)

(with reference to goods bought or sold) surreptitiously and typically illegally:certain labs have been peddling this drug under the counter [as adjective]:an under-the-counter deal

Origin:

Middle English (counter1 (sense 3)): from Old French conteor, from medieval Latin computatorium, from Latin computare (see compute)

counter in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of counter in the British & World English dictionary

Nearby words

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