Definitions

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

  • intransitive verb To act against with equal force; counteract.
  • intransitive verb To compensate for; offset.
  • intransitive verb To act against an often detrimental influence or power.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Counterbalancing power or weight sufficient to obviate or counteract any effect; equal efficacy or value; compensation; requital.
  • To act against or antagonize with equal force or power; act or avail with equivalent effect against; counteract.
  • Hence To be or furnish an equivalent of or a compensation for; make good; offset.

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

  • transitive verb To act against with equal force, power, or effect; to thwart or overcome by such action; to furnish an equivalent to or for; to counterbalance; to compensate.
  • noun obsolete Power or value sufficient to obviate any effect; equal weight, strength, or value; equivalent; compensation; requital.

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

  • verb obsolete To have the same value as.
  • verb To counteract, counterbalance or neutralize.
  • verb To compensate for.

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

  • verb oppose and mitigate the effects of by contrary actions
  • verb compensate for or counterbalance

Etymologies

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

[Middle English countrevaillen, from Old French contrevaloir, contrevail- : contre-, counter- + valoir, to be worth (from Latin valēre, to be strong; see wal- in Indo-European roots).]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Anglo-Norman countrevaloir ( = Old French contrevaloir), from Latin contrā valēre ("to be worth against").

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Examples

  • You don't call it countervail, you call it something else.

    Free Trade in Historical Perspective 1987

  • Good imported witch-hazel, every twig ensorcelled by a nasty charm called the countervail that gives even more gold to his rich friends.

    Archive 2005-08-01 2005

  • Good imported witch-hazel, every twig ensorcelled by a nasty charm called the countervail that gives even more gold to his rich friends.

    Dawg's Blawg 2005

  • Brazil's economic model, which features a strong government infrastructure to regulate the disruptive effects that free markets can have on social institutions, is a post-Bretton Woods system hybrid that features strategic alliances with France and China that countervail turbulent free market influences that have been the hallmark of more than 80 years of having the US as its major trade partner.

    Eric Ehrmann: October Surprises Bring Drama to Brazil's Presidential Race Eric Ehrmann 2010

  • Brazil's economic model, which features a strong government infrastructure to regulate the disruptive effects that free markets can have on social institutions, is a post-Bretton Woods system hybrid that features strategic alliances with France and China that countervail turbulent free market influences that have been the hallmark of more than 80 years of having the US as its major trade partner.

    Eric Ehrmann: October Surprises Bring Drama to Brazil's Presidential Race Eric Ehrmann 2010

  • Brazil's economic model, which features a strong government infrastructure to regulate the disruptive effects that free markets can have on social institutions, is a post-Bretton Woods system hybrid that features strategic alliances with France and China that countervail turbulent free market influences that have been the hallmark of more than 80 years of having the US as its major trade partner.

    Eric Ehrmann: October Surprises Bring Drama to Brazil's Presidential Race Eric Ehrmann 2010

  • Brazil's economic model, which features a strong government infrastructure to regulate the disruptive effects that free markets can have on social institutions, is a post-Bretton Woods system hybrid that features strategic alliances with France and China that countervail turbulent free market influences that have been the hallmark of more than 80 years of having the US as its major trade partner.

    Eric Ehrmann: October Surprises Bring Drama to Brazil's Presidential Race Eric Ehrmann 2010

  • Brazil's economic model, which features a strong government infrastructure to regulate the disruptive effects that free markets can have on social institutions, is a post-Bretton Woods system hybrid that features strategic alliances with France and China that countervail turbulent free market influences that have been the hallmark of more than 80 years of having the US as its major trade partner.

    Eric Ehrmann: October Surprises Bring Drama to Brazil's Presidential Race Eric Ehrmann 2010

  • Brazil's economic model, which features a strong government infrastructure to regulate the disruptive effects that free markets can have on social institutions, is a post-Bretton Woods system hybrid that features strategic alliances with France and China that countervail turbulent free market influences that have been the hallmark of more than 80 years of having the US as its major trade partner.

    Eric Ehrmann: October Surprises Bring Drama to Brazil's Presidential Race Eric Ehrmann 2010

  • Brazil's economic model, which features a strong government infrastructure to regulate the disruptive effects that free markets can have on social institutions, is a post-Bretton Woods system hybrid that features strategic alliances with France and China that countervail turbulent free market influences that have been the hallmark of more than 80 years of having the US as its major trade partner.

    Eric Ehrmann: October Surprises Bring Drama to Brazil's Presidential Race Eric Ehrmann 2010

Comments

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  • To act against with equal force; counteract.

    v. To compensate for; offset.

    v. To act against an often detrimental influence or power

    August 31, 2013