Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use counterweight in a sentence

12 example sentences · noun, verb

Counterweight means 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). Example: “Four 110-ton counterweights, one in each tower, make this feat possible by reducing the effective weight to be lifted to some 25 tons; but an additional 20 tons (a very heavy snow load) can be lifted if necessary.”

Examples of counterweight by meaning

nounA heavy mass of often iron or concrete, mechanically linked in opposition to a load which is to be raised and lowered...

  • Four 110-ton counterweights, one in each tower, make this feat possible by reducing the effective weight to be lifted to some 25 tons; but an additional 20 tons (a very heavy snow load) can be lifted if necessary.1960 May, “Talking of Trains: The new Kingsferry Bridge”, in Trains Illustrated, page 265
  • Like other supertall towers, 432 Park relies on the counterweight system to address the forces of wind and reduce the feeling of swaying for residents.2025 October 19, “A Tower on Billionaires’ Row Is Full of Cracks. Who’s to Blame?”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York...

nounA counterbalance.

  • A counterweight to the anti-immigrant fear mongering of the former leader of the right-wing U.K.2017 March 28, Alan Johnson, “Why Brexit Is Best for Britain: The Left-Wing Case”, in The New York Times

verbTo fit with a counterweight.

  • The lifting span, which rises vertically between the towers, weighs 465 tons and is counterweighted by four 110-ton weights.1960 June, “New Lifting Bridge at Kings Ferry”, in Railway Magazine, page 388
  • Everything on the grid – all the backdrops and curtains, anything that has to move up and down from the fly-tower – has to be counterweighted.2018, Maggie Harcourt, Theatrical

More sentences with counterweight

  • “Even then, the probability of being a counterweight to Google is small.2026 April 23, Cade Metz, “Elon Musk and Sam Altman’s Epic Fight Heads to Court”, in The New York Times, →ISSN. From the entry hold a candle
  • In brief, Daoism provides a useful counterweight to Western logocentrism, phallocentrism, and the metaphysics of presence.2014, James J.Y. Liu, Language-Paradox-Poetics: A Chinese Perspective, page 21. From the entry vaginocentrism
  • Space elevators proposed for the Earth require novel high-strength materials and a substantial counterweight for their implementation.2005 May, Bob Parkinson, “Partial Beanstalks for Mars Exploration”, in Journal of the British Interplanetary Society, volume 58, number…. From the entry beanstalk
  • For Iran, Syria is a counterweight to any Sunni resurgence in Iraq, as well as the conduit to Hizbullah, its client Shiite pseudo-state in Lebanon.2013 September 23, Matt Steinglass, “Democracy in America: Rebels and tyrants”, in Economist, retrieved 19 Aug 2014. From the entry pseudostate
  • The correct method is to crawl out flat on top of the line, balancing yourself with one heavy boondocker boot hanging down as a counterweight.1967, Erick Berry, Underwater Warriors: Story of the American Frogmen, page 9. From the entry boondocker
  • The tower is mounted on a slewing platform, which also carries the power plant and the counterweights, while the jib is supported and luffed by fixed pendant ropes.1999, Howard I. Shapiro, Jay P. Shapiro, Lawrence K. Shapiro, Cranes and Derricks, →ISBN, page 95. From the entry luff
  • The authorities provided the boats, and Smalley mounted machines on them that could dredge and clear weed, working in shallow waterways under low, narrow bridges, unhindered by a counterweight tailswing.1994, David Needham, Robert Dransfield, Business Studies, →ISBN, page 133. From the entry tailswing

Meaning of counterweight

  1. 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).
  2. noun A counterbalance.
  3. verb To fit with a counterweight.

Full definition of counterweight

Questions about counterweight in a sentence

How do you use counterweight in a sentence?
Counterweight is used as a noun and verb. For example: “Four 110-ton counterweights, one in each tower, make this feat possible by reducing the effective weight to be lifted to some 25 tons; but an additional 20 tons (a very heavy snow load) can be lifted if necessary.”
What is a short sentence with counterweight?
““Even then, the probability of being a counterweight to Google is small.”
What does counterweight mean?
Counterweight means 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).

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: counterweight (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this page: “How to use counterweight in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/counterweight. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.