Definitions

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

  • noun A sudden overthrow of a government that gained power by a coup d'état.

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

  • noun A coup which seeks to overthrow the government installed by a previous coup

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

  • noun a sudden and decisive overthrow of a government that gained power by a coup d'etat

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

counter- +‎ coup

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Examples

  • Eisenhower authorized the CIA to cooperate with the British in an operation that was actually a countercoup because the Mossadegh government had forced the Shah of Iran to abdicate.

    Eisenhower 1956 David A. Nichols 2011

  • Eisenhower authorized the CIA to cooperate with the British in an operation that was actually a countercoup because the Mossadegh government had forced the Shah of Iran to abdicate.

    Eisenhower 1956 David A. Nichols 2011

  • Dimitrios Ioannidis, 87, the feared security chief who led a countercoup against Greece's military leaders and provoked Turkey's invasion of Cyprus in 1974, has died.

    Dimitrios Ioannidis, 87, dies; former Greece security chief led countercoup 2010

  • The shah took back power in 1953 and kept Iran under tight control to prevent a countercoup by the communists.

    The Coming Revolution Walid Phares 2010

  • But army hard-liners, led by Mr. Ioannidis, staged a successful countercoup on Nov. 25, 1973, and ruled Greece with increasing harshness and incompetence for the next eight months.

    Dimitrios Ioannidis, 87, dies; former Greece security chief led countercoup 2010

  • Mr. Chávez even suggested that Honduras's military should stage a countercoup to restore Mr. Zelaya.

    Hopes Fade for Quick End to Honduran Political Crisis 2009

  • Within other bodies of the power elite and see if they can essentially stage what could amount to be a countercoup.

    CNN Transcript Jun 13, 2009 2009

  • Holed up in his own headquarters, he began to improvise a countercoup.

    The People Vs. The Plotters 2008

  • The two Western countries believed they were not supporting a coup—that was what Mossadegh was carrying out—but rather a countercoup by the Shah and Zahedi.14

    The Prize Daniel Yergin 2008

  • As far as he was concerned, the countercoup had failed and he had little hope of ever returning to Tehran.

    The Prize Daniel Yergin 2008

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