Definitions

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

  • noun A weight used as a counterbalance.
  • noun A force or influence equally counteracting another.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A weight in the opposite scale; a counterpoise.

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

  • noun A heavy mass of often iron or concrete, mechanically linked in opposition to a load which is to be raised and lowered, with the intent of reducing the amount of work which must be done to effect the raising and lowering. Counterweights are used, for example, in cable-hauled elevators and some kinds of movable bridges (e.g. a bascule bridge).
  • verb transitive To fit with a counterweight.

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

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

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

counter- +‎ weight

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Examples

  • When a suitable counterweight is added at one end so that the reaction on one fulcrum is zero, the block can be spun asymmetrically 180 degrees about the other, giving a horizontal displacement (here's the basic physics).

    Archive 2004-07-01 Ray Girvan 2004

  • When a suitable counterweight is added at one end so that the reaction on one fulcrum is zero, the block can be spun asymmetrically 180 degrees about the other, giving a horizontal displacement (here's the basic physics).

    Shifting stones Ray Girvan 2004

  • This climate should produce an a important, long-term counterweight to the problems of our economy as a whole.

    Incubating Change to Immigration Law with the Startup Visa Movement Mark Hendrickson 2005

  • Bahrain holds particular importance to Washington as the host of U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet, the main American counterweight to Iran's efforts to expand its military influence into the Gulf.

    Daughter of jailed Bahraini goes on hunger strike 2011

  • Israel's official response to J Street, which though less than two years old has been described as a counterweight to AIPAC, has gone from chill to cold-shoulder.

    Bradley Burston: Dovish Jews? They Love Israel? Excommunicate Them 2009

  • For me, playing the counterweight has been a dynamic experience.?

    Up Close with “The Closer” Star Robert Gossett 2006

  • Leopold is the supposed inventor of the elevator aka the counterweight pulley.

    dailycomic Diary Entry dailycomic 2008

  • UNASUR was created in May 2008 to serve as a continental organization that Chavez has described as a counterweight to the United States.

    SFGate: Top News Stories By CHRISTOPHER TOOTHAKER 2011

  • Israel's official response to J Street, which though it's been around for less than two years has been described as a counterweight to AIPAC, has been measured but far from welcoming.

    unknown title 2009

  • Not a new Warsaw Pact, but some kind of counterweight to the hegemony of the U. S.Why do you think NATO is bombing you?

    A Milosevic In Moscow 2008

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