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n. Idioms: 1. A flat surface on which money is counted, business is transacted, or food is prepared or served. 2. Games A piece, as of wood or ivory, used for keeping a count or a place. 3. a. An imitation coin; a token. b. A piece of money. over the counter 1. Without being listed or available on an officially recognized stock exchange but in trade by direct negotiation between buyers and sellers: bought stocks over the counter. 2. Without a doctor's prescription being legally required: cold medicine that is available over the counter. under the counter In an illegal or surreptitious manner; illicitly: arrested for selling prescription drugs under the counter. [Middle English countour, from Anglo-Norman counteour, from Medieval Latin computātōrium, countinghouse, from Latin computāre, to calculate; see COUNT1.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
pref. 1. Contrary; opposite; opposing: counterclaim. 2. Corresponding; complementary: counterfoil. [Middle English countre-, from Old French contre-, from Latin contrā; see kom in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
