Loading earlier words…
Counterfeit

To carry on a deception; to dissemble; to feign; to pretend.

Counterfeiter

One who counterfeits; one who copies or imitates; especially, one who copies or forges bank notes or coin; a forger.

Counterflory

Adorned with flowers (usually fleurs-de-lis) so divided that the tops appear on one side and the bottoms on the others; -- said of any ordinary.

Counterfort

A kind of buttress of masonry to strengthen a revetment wall.

Countergage

An adjustable gage, with double points for transferring measurements from one timber to another, as the breadth of a mortise to the place where the tenon is to be made.

Counterglow

An exceedingly faint roundish or somewhat oblong nebulous light near the ecliptic and opposite the sun, best seen during September and October, when in the constellations Sagittarius and Pisces. Its cause is not yet understood. Called also Gegenschein.

Counterguard

A low outwork before a bastion or ravelin, consisting of two lines of rampart parallel to the faces of the bastion, and protecting them from a breaching fire.

Counterirritate

To produce counter irritation in; to treat with one morbid process for the purpose of curing another.

Counterjumper

A salesman in a shop; a shopman; -- used contemptuously.

Counterlath

A batten laid lengthwise between two rafters to afford a bearing for laths laid crosswise. Any lath laid without actual measurement between two gauged laths. Any of a series of laths nailed to the timbers to raise the sheet lathing above their surface to afford a key for plastering. One of many laths used in preparing one side of a partition or framed wall, when the other side has been covered in and finished.

Counterman

A man who attends at the counter of a shop to sell goods.

Countermand

A contrary order; revocation of a former order or command.

Countermark

To apply a countermark to; as, to countermark silverware; to countermark a horse's teeth.

Countermine

To make a countermine or counterplot; to plot secretly.

Counterpane

A duplicate part or copy of an indenture, deed, etc., corresponding with the original; -- now called counterpart.

Counterpart

A part corresponding to another part; anything which answers, or corresponds, to another; a copy; a duplicate; a facsimile.

Counterplead

To plead the contrary of; to plead against; to deny.

Counterpoint

A coverlet; a cover for a bed, often stitched or broken into squares; a counterpane. See 1st Counterpane.

Counterpoise

A weight sufficient to balance another, as in the opposite scale of a balance; an equal weight.

Counterprove

To take a counter proof of, or a copy in reverse, by taking an impression directly from the face of an original. See Counter proof, under Counter.

Counterscale

Counterbalance; balance, as of one scale against another.

Counterscarp

The exterior slope or wall of the ditch; -- sometimes, the whole covered way, beyond the ditch, with its parapet and glacis; as, the enemy have lodged themselves on the counterscarp.

Countershaft

An intermediate shaft; esp., one which receives motion from a line shaft in a factory and transmits it to a machine.

Countersign

The signature of a secretary or other officer to a writing signed by a principal or superior, to attest its authenticity.

countersignature

a second confirming signature endorsing a document already signed.

Countersink

An enlargement of the upper part of a hole, forming a cavity or depression for receiving the head of a screw or bolt.

Counterstep

A contrary method of procedure; opposite course of action.

Countersway

A swaying in a contrary direction; an opposing influence.

Counterterm

A term or word which is the opposite of, or antithesis to, another; an antonym; -- the opposite of synonym; as, /foe/ is the counterterm of /friend/.

Countertime

The resistance of a horse, that interrupts his cadence and the measure of his manege, occasioned by a bad horseman, or the bad temper of the horse.

Counterturn

The critical moment in a play, when, contrary to expectation, the action is embroiled in new difficulties.

Countervail

Power or value sufficient to obviate any effect; equal weight, strength, or value; equivalent; compensation; requital.

Counterview

An opposite or opposing view; opposition; a posture in which two persons front each other.

Countervote

To vote in opposition to; to balance or overcome by voting; to outvote.

Counterwait

To wait or watch for; to be on guard against.

Counterwheel

To cause to wheel or turn in an opposite direction.

Countess

The wife of an earl in the British peerage, or of a count in the Continental nobility; also, a lady possessed of the same dignity in her own right. See the Note under Count.

Countingroom Countinghouse

The house or room in which a merchant, trader, or manufacturer keeps his books and transacts business; the offices used by the accountants of a business.

Countless

Incapable of being counted; not ascertainable; innumerable.

Countor

An advocate or professional pleader; one who counted for his client, that is, orally pleaded his cause.

Countrified

Having the appearance and manners of a rustic; rude; as, countrified clothes.

Countrify

To give a rural appearance to; to cause to appear rustic.

Country

Pertaining to the regions remote from a city; rural; rustic; as, a country life; a country town; the country party, as opposed to city.

country-style

of a style associated with rural areas; as, country-style sausage.

Countryside

A particular rural district; a country neighborhood.

countrywide

extending throughout a country or nation as a whole; as, a countrywide fund-raising campaign.

Countrywoman

A woman born, or dwelling, in the country, as opposed to the city; a woman born or dwelling in the same country with another native or inhabitant.

County

An earldom; the domain of a count or earl.

countywide

including or occurring in all parts of a county; as, a countywide war on drugs; countywide elections.

Coupe

The front compartment of a French diligence; also, the front compartment (usually for three persons) of a car or carriage on British railways.

Coupe-gorge

Any position giving the enemy such advantage that the troops occupying it must either surrender or be cut to pieces.

Couped

Cut off smoothly, as distinguished from erased; -- used especially for the head or limb of an animal. See Erased.

Coupee

A motion in dancing, when one leg is a little bent, and raised from the floor, and with the other a forward motion is made.

Couple

To come together as male and female; to copulate.

Couple-beggar

One who makes it his business to marry beggars to each other.

Couple-close

A diminutive of the chevron, containing one fourth of its surface. Couple-closes are generally borne one on each side of a chevron, and the blazoning may then be either a chevron between two couple-closes or chevron cottised.

coupled

joined together especially in a pair or pairs.

Coupler

One who couples; that which couples, as a link, ring, or shackle, to connect cars.

Couplet

Two taken together; a pair or couple; especially two lines of verse that rhyme with each other.

Coupling

The act of bringing or coming together; connection; sexual union.

Coupon

A certificate of interest due, printed at the bottom of transferable bonds (state, railroad, etc.), given for a term of years, designed to be cut off and presented for payment when the interest is due; an interest warrant.

Coupstick

A stick or switch used among some American Indians in making or counting a coup.

Coupure

A passage cut through the glacis to facilitate sallies by the besieged.

Courage

To inspire with courage; to encourage.

Courageous

Possessing, or characterized by, courage; brave; bold.

Courant

A piece of music in triple time; also, a lively dance; a coranto.

Couranto

A sprightly dance; a coranto; a courant.

Courap

A skin disease, common in India, in which there is perpetual itching and eruption, esp. of the groin, breast, armpits, and face.

Courb

To bend; to stop; to bow.

Courche

A square piece of linen used formerly by women instead of a cap; a kerchief.

courgette

a marrow squash plant whose fruit are eaten when small; -- called also zucchini.

Courier

A messenger sent with haste to convey letters or dispatches, usually on public business.

Courlan

A South American bird, of the genus Aramus, allied to the rails.

Course

To run as in a race, or in hunting; to pursue the sport of coursing; as, the sportsmen coursed over the flats of Lancashire.

Coursey

A space in the galley; a part of the hatches.

Coursing

The pursuit or running game with dogs that follow by sight instead of by scent.

Court

To play the lover; to woo; as, to go courting.

Loading more words…