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counter1

Pronunciation: /ˈkaʊntə/

Translate counter | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of counter

noun

  • 1a long flat-topped fitment across which business is conducted in a shop or bank or refreshments are served in a cafeteria.
  • North American a worktop.
  • 2a small disc used in board games for keeping the score or as a place marker.
  • a token representing a coin.
  • a factor used to give one party an advantage in negotiations:the proposal has become a crucial bargaining counter over prices
  • 3a device 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.

Phrases

behind the counter

serving in a shop or bank: he drove to the store and flirted with two sisters behind the counter

over the counter

by ordinary retail purchase, with no need for a prescription or licence: [as modifier]: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:hard porn is legally banned, but still available under the counter [as modifier]:an under-the-counter deal

Origin:

Middle English (in counter1 (sense 2)): from Old French conteor, from medieval Latin computatorium, from Latin computare (see compute)

counter in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of counter in the US English dictionary

Nearby words

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