Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A counterbalancing weight.
  • noun A force or influence that balances or equally counteracts another.
  • noun The state of being in equilibrium.
  • transitive verb To oppose with an equal weight; counterbalance.
  • transitive verb To act against with an equal force or power; offset.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To act in opposition to, or counteract, as a counterpoise; counterbalance; be equiponderant to; equal in weight.
  • Hence To act against in any manner with equal power or effect; balance; restore the balance to.
  • noun A weight equal to and balancing or counteracting another weight; specifically, a body or mass of the same weight with another opposed to it, as in the opposite scale of a balance.
  • noun Hence Any equal power or force acting in opposition; a force sufficient to balance another force.
  • noun The state of being in equilibrium with another weight or force.
  • noun In the manège, a position of the rider in which his body is duly balanced in his seat, not inclined more to one side than the other; equilibrium.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A weight sufficient to balance another, as in the opposite scale of a balance; an equal weight.
  • noun An equal power or force acting in opposition; a force sufficient to balance another force.
  • noun The relation of two weights or forces which balance each other; equilibrium; equiponderance.
  • transitive verb To act against with equal weight; to equal in weight; to balance the weight of; to counterbalance.
  • transitive verb To act against with equal power; to balance.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A weight sufficient to balance another, as in the opposite scale of a balance; an equal weight.
  • noun An equal power or force acting in opposition; a force sufficient to balance another force.
  • noun The relation of two weights or forces which balance each other; equilibrium; equiponderance.
  • verb To act against with equal weight; to equal in weight; to balance the weight of; to counterbalance.
  • verb To act against with equal power; to balance.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a weight that balances another weight
  • verb constitute a counterweight or counterbalance to

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Alteration (influenced by poise) of Middle English countrepeis, from Old French contrepeis : contre-, counter- + peis, weight; see avoirdupois.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Old French contrepois, contrepeser, later assimilated to poise.

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Examples

Comments

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  • "Our spoils we have brought home

    Do more than counterpoise a full third part

    The charges of the action."

    - William Shakespeare, 'The Tragedy of Coriolanus'.

    August 29, 2009

  • JM is constantly balancing counterpoise and counterpole and that's what counts.

    July 8, 2010