counterbalance
/ˌkaʊntəˈbæləns/US/ˌkaʊntɚˈbæləns/
counterbalance noun: a weight that is put in opposition to an equal weight so it keeps that in balance.
Noun
counterbalance (plural counterbalances)
- A weight that is put in opposition to an equal weight so it keeps that in balance.
- A force or influence that balances, checks or limits an opposite one.
Verb
counterbalance (third-person singular simple present counterbalances, present participle counterbalancing, simple past and past participle counterbalanced)
- To apply weight in order to balance an opposing weight.
- Big brother counterbalances his two siblings to the pound.
- […] the remaining Air was not able to counterballance the Mercurial Cylinder, […]1659 December 30 (date written), Robert Boyle, “[Experiment 17]”, in New Experiments Physico-Mechanicall, Touching the Spring of the Air, and Its Effects […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] H[enry] Hall...
- Synonyms:
- counterpoise, equiponderate, counterweigh
- Antonyms:
- outweigh
- To match or equal in effect when applying opposing force.
- Arm wrestling is undecided as long as the opponents counterbalance each other.
- The defenders' knowledge of the terrain roughly counterbalances the attackers' superior equipment.
- Synonyms:
- counterpoise, counteract
counterbalance meaning in Tamil, Bengali, Telugu and Malayalam
counterbalance in Tamil
- எதிரீடுசெய்தல், சரிசம எதிர் எடை, சரிசம எதிர் ஆற்றல், சரிசம எதிர் எடையிடு, சரிசம வலிமை காட்டு, ஒத்த எதிர்ச்செல்வாக்கு நிறுவு
counterbalance in Bengali
- ভারসাম্য রক্ষা করা
counterbalance in Telugu
- to counterbalance
- సరితూగు saritūgu
counterbalance in Malayalam
- make up for, compensate for, offset
- തുല്യഭാരമാക്കുക, തൂക്കമൊപ്പിക്കുക, തുല്യഭാരമിട്ട് തൂക്കമൊപ്പിക്കുക, കുറവു നികത്തുക, നഷ്ടപരിഹാരം കൊടുക്കുക, ഒപ്പമാക്കുക
More languagesFewer languages
- counterbalance in Gujarati
- ધડો dhaḍo
- counterbalance in Arabic
- ثِقْل مُوَازِن ṯiql muwāzin, سَقُوم saqūm, وَازَنَ wāzana, مُوَازَنَة muwāzana
- counterbalance in Malay
- imbang balas, mengimbang balas
Examples of counterbalance in a sentence
- Still, a strong reluctance to re-enter a service from which he had been dismissed with contempt, almost counterbalanced these considerations.1820, [Walter Scott], chapter XV, in The Abbot. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne & Co.] for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and...
- Perhaps her views of life were too morbid, but her companions had enough cheerfulness to counterbalance any undue tinge of sadness given by one who had obviously suffered much.1838 (date written), L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter VII, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume I, London...
- […] the study of mind is necessary to counterbalance and correct the influence of the study of matter; […]a. 1857, William Hamilton, “Lecture II. Philosophy—Its Absolute Utility. (B) Objective.”, in H[enry] L[ongueville] Mansel and John Veitch...
- A considerable effort has been made in these volumes to counterbalance this activity by introducing the student to the plants as living entities with a "life of their own," as Spruce put it.1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, Chicago, Ill....
Synonyms of counterbalance
Antonyms
Forms of counterbalance
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | counterbalances |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | counterbalances |
| present participle | counterbalancing |
| past participle | counterbalanced |
| past | counterbalanced |
Origin of counterbalance
From counter- + balance.
Words formed from counterbalance
Questions about counterbalance
- What does counterbalance mean?
- Counterbalance means a weight that is put in opposition to an equal weight so it keeps that in balance.
- What is counterbalance in Tamil?
- Counterbalance in Tamil is எதிரீடுசெய்தல், சரிசம எதிர் எடை, சரிசம எதிர் ஆற்றல். See Counterbalance meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use counterbalance in a sentence?
- Still, a strong reluctance to re-enter a service from which he had been dismissed with contempt, almost counterbalanced these considerations.
- What part of speech is counterbalance?
- Counterbalance can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce counterbalance?
- Counterbalance is pronounced /ˌkaʊntəˈbæləns/ (UK).
- What is the plural of counterbalance?
- The plural of counterbalance is counterbalances.
Words near counterbalance in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: counterbalance (page history and authors); counterbalance (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); counterbalance (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); సరితూగు (Telugu) (page history and authors); counterbalance (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-counterbalance.wav.
Cite this entry: “counterbalance.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/counterbalance. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.