counterbalance
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˌkaʊntəˈbæləns/
ipa: /ˌkaʊntɚˈbæləns/
Forms: form: counterbalances
form: counterbalancing
form: counterbalanced
form: counterbalanced
Etymology: From counter- + balance.
Senses: examples: text: Big brother counterbalances his two siblings to the pound.
text: […] the remaining Air was not able to counterballance the Mercurial Cylinder, […]
ref: 1659 December 30 (date written), Robert Boyle, “[Experiment 17]”, in New Experiments Physico-Mechanicall, Touching the Spring of the Air, and Its Effects, (Made, for the Most Part, in a New Pneumatical Engine) […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] H[enry] Hall, printer to the University, for Tho[mas] Robinson, published 1660, →OCLC, page 118:
synonyms: counterpoise
equiponderate
counterweight
antonyms: outweigh
hypernyms: offset
glosses: To apply weight in order to balance an opposing weight.
examples: text: Arm wrestling is undecided as long as the opponents counterbalance each other.
text: The defenders' knowledge of the terrain roughly counterbalances the attackers' superior equipment.
text: Still, a strong reluctance to re-enter a service from which he had been dismissed with contempt, almost counterbalanced these considerations.
ref: 1820, [Walter Scott], chapter XV, in The Abbot. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne & Co.] for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and for Archibald Constable and Company, and John Ballantyne, […], →OCLC, pages 333–334:
text: 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.
ref: 1838 (date written), L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter VII, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], published 1842, →OCLC, page 84:
text: […] the study of mind is necessary to counterbalance and correct the influence of the study of matter; […]
ref: 1859, William Hamilton, “Lecture II. Philosophy—Its Absolute Utility. (B) Objective.”, in H[enry] L[ongueville] Mansel and John Veitch, editors, Lectures on Metaphysics and Logic […], volume I, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, page 35:
text: 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.
ref: 1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, →ISBN, page ix:
text: It's almost eerie, in the wake of the Lawrence Summers controversy, to encounter the words of an earlier Harvard president, John Kirkland, a "friend and mentor" of Elizabeth's, who advised her that if any woman "is raised by genius and knowledge above the level of her sex, her neglect of attention appropriate to the best half of creation, attentions called femininities, will more than counterbalance all her advantages and reduce her below other women."
ref: 2005 April 17, Francine Rose, “'The Peabody Sisters': Reflected Glory”, in The New York Times:
text: Government control was inconsistent and (at times) motivated by wider political issues that prevented BR being able to charge reasonable rates. Counterbalancing this was the Commission's own policy regarding freight charges. It frequently did not charge enough to cover direct costs (the so-called exceptional rates), causing massive losses to accrue on merchandise movements.
ref: 2023 March 8, David Clough, “The long road that led to Beeching”, in RAIL, number 978, page 43:
synonyms: counterpoise
counteract
antonyms: overcome
overpower
glosses: To match or equal in effect when applying opposing force.
Derived terms: counterbalancer
counterbalancingly