n. [ OE. acount, account, accompt, OF. acont, fr. aconter. See Account, v. t., Count, n., 1. ] 1. A reckoning; computation; calculation; enumeration; a record of some reckoning; as, the Julian account of time. [ 1913 Webster ]

A beggarly account of empty boxes. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A registry of pecuniary transactions; a written or printed statement of business dealings or debts and credits, and also of other things subjected to a reckoning or review; as, to keep one's account at the bank. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A statement in general of reasons, causes, grounds, etc., explanatory of some event; as, no satisfactory account has been given of these phenomena. Hence, the word is often used simply for reason, ground, consideration, motive, etc.; as, on no account, on every account, on all accounts. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A statement of facts or occurrences; recital of transactions; a relation or narrative; a report; a description; as, an account of a battle. “A laudable account of the city of London.” Howell. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. A statement and explanation or vindication of one's conduct with reference to judgment thereon. [ 1913 Webster ]

Give an account of thy stewardship. Luke xvi. 2. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. An estimate or estimation; valuation; judgment. “To stand high in your account.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. Importance; worth; value; advantage; profit. “Men of account.” Pope. “To turn to account.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Account current, a running or continued account between two or more parties, or a statement of the particulars of such an account. --
In account with, in a relation requiring an account to be kept. --
On account of, for the sake of; by reason of; because of. --
On one's own account, for one's own interest or behalf. --
To make account, to have an opinion or expectation; to reckon. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ] This other part . . . makes account to find no slender arguments for this assertion out of those very scriptures which are commonly urged against it. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ] --
To make account of, to hold in estimation; to esteem; as, he makes small account of beauty. --
To take account of, or
to take into account, to take into consideration; to notice. “Of their doings, God takes no account.” Milton. --
A writ of account (Law), a writ which the plaintiff brings demanding that the defendant shall render his just account, or show good cause to the contrary; -- called also an action of account. Cowell. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Narrative; narration; relation; recital; description; explanation; rehearsal. -- Account, Narrative, Narration, Recital. These words are applied to different modes of rehearsing a series of events. Account turns attention not so much to the speaker as to the fact related, and more properly applies to the report of some single event, or a group of incidents taken as whole; as, an account of a battle, of a shipwreck, etc. A narrative is a continuous story of connected incidents, such as one friend might tell to another; as, a narrative of the events of a siege, a narrative of one's life, etc. Narration is usually the same as narrative, but is sometimes used to describe the mode of relating events; as, his powers of narration are uncommonly great. Recital denotes a series of events drawn out into minute particulars, usually expressing something which peculiarly interests the feelings of the speaker; as, the recital of one's wrongs, disappointments, sufferings, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Accounted; p. pr. & vb. n. Accounting. ] [ OE. acounten, accompten, OF. aconter, à (L. ad) + conter to count. F. conter to tell, compter to count, L. computare. See Count, v. t. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. To reckon; to compute; to count. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The motion of . . . the sun whereby years are accounted. Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To place to one's account; to put to the credit of; to assign; -- with to. [ R. ] Clarendon. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To value, estimate, or hold in opinion; to judge or consider; to deem. [ 1913 Webster ]

Accounting that God was able to raise him up. Heb. xi. 19. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To recount; to relate. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To render or receive an account or relation of particulars; as, an officer must account with or to the treasurer for money received. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To render an account; to answer in judgment; -- with for; as, we must account for the use of our opportunities. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To give a satisfactory reason; to tell the cause of; to explain; -- with for; as, idleness accounts for poverty. [ 1913 Webster ]

To account of, to esteem; to prize; to value. Now used only in the passive. “I account of her beauty.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Newer was preaching more accounted of than in the sixteenth century. Canon Robinson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state of being accountable; liability to be called on to render an account; the obligation to bear the consequences for failure to perform as expected; accountableness. “The awful idea of accountability.” R. Hall.
Syn. -- answerability, answerableness [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Liable to be called on to render an account; answerable; as, every man is accountable to God for his conduct. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Capable of being accounted for; explicable. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

True religion . . . intelligible, rational, and accountable, -- not a burden but a privilege. B. Whichcote. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Amenable; responsible; liable; answerable. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality or state of being accountable; accountability. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In an accountable manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The art or employment of an accountant. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. accomptant, OF. acontant, p. pr. ] 1. One who renders account; one accountable. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A reckoner. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. One who is skilled in, keeps, or adjusts, accounts; an officer in a public office, who has charge of the accounts. [ 1913 Webster ]

Accountatn general, the head or superintending accountant in certain public offices. Also, formerly, an officer in the English court of chancery who received the moneys paid into the court, and deposited them in the Bank of England. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Accountable. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Accountant + -ship. ] The office or employment of an accountant. [ 1913 Webster ]

A book in which accounts are kept. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

. A sum equal to the interest at a given rate on the principal (face) of a bill or note from the time of discounting until it becomes due. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. A counter in a supermarket where one pays for one's purchases.
Syn. -- checkout. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. a counter in a supermarket where you pay for your purchases.
Syn. -- checkout. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. (Microbiology) an instrument designed to conveniently count or assist counting colonies{ 9 } of microorganisms on a plate containing a gelled growth medium. One variety uses a pencil-like rod with a metal tip, which is connected by an electrical connection to the gelled growth medium; when touched to a colony{ 9 } on the plate, the completion of the electrical circuit causes an increment of 1 unit on the readout of the colony counter. [ PJC ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Counted; p. pr. & vb. n. Counting. ] [ OF. conter, and later (etymological spelling) compter, in modern French thus distinguished; conter to relate (cf. Recount, Account), compter to count; fr. L. computuare to reckon, compute; com- + putare to reckon, settle, order, prune, orig., to clean. See Pure, and cf. Compute. ] 1. To tell or name one by one, or by groups, for the purpose of ascertaining the whole number of units in a collection; to number; to enumerate; to compute; to reckon. [ 1913 Webster ]

Who can count the dust of Jacob? Num. xxiii. 10. [ 1913 Webster ]

In a journey of forty miles, Avaux counted only three miserable cabins. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To place to an account; to ascribe or impute; to consider or esteem as belonging. [ 1913 Webster ]

Abracham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Rom. iv. 3. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To esteem; to account; to reckon; to think, judge, or consider. [ 1913 Webster ]

I count myself in nothing else so happy
As in a soul remembering my good friends. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

To count out. (a) To exclude (one) from consideration; to be assured that (one) will not participate or cannot be depended upon. (b) (House of Commons) To declare adjourned, as a sitting of the House, when it is ascertained that a quorum is not present. (c) To prevent the accession of (a person) to office, by a fraudulent return or count of the votes cast; -- said of a candidate really elected. [ Colloq. ]

Syn. -- To calculate; number; reckon; compute; enumerate. See Calculate. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To number or be counted; to possess value or carry weight; hence, to increase or add to the strength or influence of some party or interest; as, every vote counts; accidents count for nothing. [ 1913 Webster ]

This excellent man . . . counted among the best and wisest of English statesmen. J. A. Symonds. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To reckon; to rely; to depend; -- with on or upon. [ 1913 Webster ]

He was brewer to the palace; and it was apprehended that the government counted on his voice. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

I think it a great error to count upon the genius of a nation as a standing argument in all ages. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To take account or note; -- with of. [ Obs. ] “No man counts of her beauty.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Eng. Law) To plead orally; to argue a matter in court; to recite a count. Burrill. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. conte and compte, with different meanings, fr. L. computus a computation, fr. computare. See Count, v. t. ] 1. The act of numbering; reckoning; also, the number ascertained by counting. [ 1913 Webster ]

Of blessed saints for to increase the count. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

By this count, I shall be much in years. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An object of interest or account; value; estimation. [ Obs. ] “All his care and count.” Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Law) A formal statement of the plaintiff's case in court; in a more technical and correct sense, a particular allegation or charge in a declaration or indictment, separately setting forth the cause of action or prosecution. Wharton. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ In the old law books, count was used synonymously with declaration. When the plaintiff has but a single cause of action, and makes but one statement of it, that statement is called indifferently count or declaration, most generally, however, the latter. But where the suit embraces several causes, or the plaintiff makes several different statements of the same cause of action, each statement is called a count, and all of them combined, a declaration. Bouvier. Wharton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. conte, fr. L. comes, comitis, associate, companion, one of the imperial court or train, properly, one who goes with another; com- + ire to go, akin to Skr. i to go. ] A nobleman on the continent of Europe, equal in rank to an English earl. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Though the tittle Count has never been introduced into Britain, the wives of Earls have, from the earliest period of its history, been designated as Countesses. Brande & C. [ 1913 Webster ]

Count palatine. (a) Formerly, the proprietor of a county who possessed royal prerogatives within his county, as did the Earl of Chester, the Bishop of Durham, and the Duke of Lancaster. [ Eng. ] See County palatine, under County. (b) Originally, a high judicial officer of the German emperors; afterward, the holder of a fief, to whom was granted the right to exercise certain imperial powers within his own domains. [ Germany ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Capable of being numbered. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. contenance, countenaunce, demeanor, composure, F. contenance demeanor, fr. L. continentia continence, LL. also, demeanor, fr. L. continere to hold together, repress, contain. See Contain, and cf. Continence. ] 1. Appearance or expression of the face; look; aspect; mien. [ 1913 Webster ]

So spake the Son, and into terror changed
His countenance. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The face; the features. [ 1913 Webster ]

In countenance somewhat doth resemble you. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Approving or encouraging aspect of face; hence, favor, good will, support; aid; encouragement. [ 1913 Webster ]

Thou hast made him . . . glad with thy countenance. Ps. xxi. 6. [ 1913 Webster ]

This is the magistrate's peculiar province, to give countenance to piety and virtue, and to rebuke vice. Atterbury. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Superficial appearance; show; pretense. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The election being done, he made countenance of great discontent thereat. Ascham. [ 1913 Webster ]

In countenance, in an assured condition or aspect; free from shame or dismay. “It puts the learned in countenance, and gives them a place among the fashionable part of mankind.” Addison. --
Out of countenance, not bold or assured; confounded; abashed. “Their best friends were out of countenance, because they found that the imputations . . . were well grounded.” Clarendon. --
To keep the countenance, to preserve a composed or natural look, undisturbed by passion or emotion. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Countenanced p. pr. & vb. n. Countenancing. ] 1. To encourage; to favor; to approve; to aid; to abet. [ 1913 Webster ]

This conceit, though countenanced by learned men, is not made out either by experience or reason. Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

Error supports custom, custom countenances error. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To make a show of; to pretend. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Which to these ladies love did countenance. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who countenances, favors, or supports. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. countere, countour, a counter (in sense 1), OF. contere, conteor, fr. conter to count. See Count, v. t. ] 1. One who counts, or reckons up; a calculator; a reckoner. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A piece of metal, ivory, wood, or bone, used in reckoning, in keeping account of games, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

The old gods of our own race whose names . . . serve as counters reckon the days of the week. E. B. Tylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

What comes the wool to? . . . I can not do it without counters. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Money; coin; -- used in contempt. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

To lock such rascal counters from his friends. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A prison; either of two prisons formerly in London. [ 1913 Webster ]

Anne Aysavugh . . . imprisoned in the Counter. Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. A telltale; a contrivance attached to an engine, printing press, or other machine, for the purpose of counting the revolutions or the pulsations. Knight. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. countour, OF. contouer, comptouer, F. comptoir, LL. computatorium, prop., a computing place, place of accounts, fr. L. computare. See Count, v. t. ] A table or board on which money is counted and over which business is transacted; a long, narrow table or bench, on which goods are laid for examination by purchasers, or on which they are weighed or measured. [ 1913 Webster ]

Over the counter (a) (Stock Exchanges), in an office; -- said of business so done, as distinguished from that done at an exchange. [ Cant ] -- (a) without a prescription; needing no prescription; -- said of medicines that can be legally bought without a physician's prescription. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

adv. [ F. contre, fr. L. contra against. Cf. Contra-. ] 1. Contrary; in opposition; in an opposite direction; contrariwise; -- used chiefly with run or go. [ 1913 Webster ]

Running counter to all the rules of virtue. Locks. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. In the wrong way; contrary to the right course; as, a hound that runs counter. [ 1913 Webster ]

This is counter, you false Danish dogs! Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. At or against the front or face. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Which [ darts ] they never throw counter, but at the back of the flier. Sandys. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Contrary; opposite; contrasted; opposed; adverse; antagonistic; as, a counter current; a counter revolution; a counter poison; a counter agent; counter fugue. “Innumerable facts attesting the counter principle.” I. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

Counter approach (Fort.), a trench or work pushed forward from defensive works to meet the approaches of besiegers. See Approach. --
Counter bond (Law), in old practice, a bond to secure one who has given bond for another. --
Counter brace. See Counter brace, in Vocabulary. --
Counter deed (Law), a secret writing which destroys, invalidates, or alters, a public deed. --
Counter distinction, contradistinction. [ Obs. ] --
Counter drain, a drain at the foot of the embankment of a canal or watercourse, for carrying off the water that may soak through. --
Counter extension (Surg.), the fixation of the upper part of a limb, while extension is practiced on the lower part, as in cases of luxation or fracture. --
Counter fissure (Surg.) Same as Contrafissure. --
Counter indication. (Med.) Same as Contraindication. --
Counter irritant (Med.), an irritant to produce a blister, a pustular eruption, or other irritation in some part of the body, in order to relieve an existing irritation in some other part. “Counter irritants are of as great use in moral as in physical diseases.” Macaulay. --
Counter irritation (Med.), the act or the result of applying a counter irritant. --
Counter opening, an aperture or vent on the opposite side, or in a different place. -
Counter parole (Mil.), a word in addition to the password, given in time of alarm as a signal. --
Counter plea (Law), a replication to a plea. Cowell. --
Counter pressure, force or pressure that acts in a contrary direction to some other opposing pressure. --
Counter project, a project, scheme, or proposal brought forward in opposition to another, as in the negotiation of a treaty. Swift. --
Counter proof, in engraving, a print taken off from another just printed, which, by being passed through the press, gives a copy in reverse, and of course in the same position as that of plate from which the first was printed, the object being to enable the engraver to inspect the state of the plate. --
Counter revolution, a revolution opposed to a former one, and restoring a former state of things. --
Counter revolutionist, one engaged in, or befriending, a counter revolution. --
Counter round (Mil.), a body of officers whose duty it is to visit and inspect the rounds and sentinels. --
Counter sea (Naut.), a sea running in an opposite direction from the wind. --
Counter sense, opposite meaning. --
Counter signal, a signal to answer or correspond to another. --
Counter signature, the name of a secretary or other officer countersigned to a writing. Tooke. --
Counter slope, an overhanging slope; as, a wall with a counter slope. Mahan. --
Counter statement, a statement made in opposition to, or denial of, another statement. --
Counter surety, a counter bond, or a surety to secure one who has given security. --
Counter tally, a tally corresponding to another. --
Counter tide, contrary tide. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See Counter, adv., Contra. ] 1. (Naut.) The after part of a vessel's body, from the water line to the stern, -- below and somewhat forward of the stern proper. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Mus.) Same as Contra. Formerly used to designate any under part which served for contrast to a principal part, but now used as equivalent to counter tenor. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Far.) The breast, or that part of a horse between the shoulders and under the neck. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. The back leather or heel part of a boot. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. An encounter. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

With kindly counter under mimic shade. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. (Boxing) To return a blow while receiving one, as in boxing. [ 1913 Webster ]

His left hand countered provokingly. C. Kingsley. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ See Counter, adv. ] A prefix meaning contrary, opposite, in opposition; as, counteract, counterbalance, countercheck. See Counter, adv. & a. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Counteracted; p. pr. & vb. n. Counteracting. ] To act in opposition to; to hinder, defeat, or frustrate, by contrary agency or influence; as, to counteract the effect of medicines; to counteract good advice. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Action in opposition; hindrance resistance. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ They ] do not . . . overcome the counteraction of a false principle or of stubborn partiality. Johnson. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Tending to counteract. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who, or that which, counteracts. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. By counteraction. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a rival attraction. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Counterbalanced p. pr. & vb. n. Counterbalancing. ] To oppose with an equal weight or power; to counteract the power or effect of; to countervail; to equiponderate; to balance. [ 1913 Webster ]

The remaining air was not able to counterbalance the mercurial cylinder. Boyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

The study of mind is necessary to counterbalance and correct the influence of the study of nature. Sir W. Hamilton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A weight, power, or agency, acting against or balancing another; as: (a) A mass of metal in one side of a driving wheel or fly wheel, to balance the weight of a crank pin, etc., on the opposite side of the wheel. (b) A counterpoise to balance the weight of anything, as of a drawbridge or a scale beam. [ 1913 Webster ]

Money is the counterbalance to all other things purchasable by it. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. brought into equipoise by means of a weight or force that offsets another.
Syn. -- counterpoised. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. a vigorous and unrestrained verbal response; as, her tirade provoked a counterblast from her husband. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. A flat-bottomed cylindrical enlargement of the mouth of a hole, usually of slight depth, as for receiving a cylindrical screw head. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A kind of pin drill with the cutting edge or edges normal to the axis; -- used for enlarging a hole, or for forming a flat-bottomed recess at its mouth. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To form a counterbore in, by boring, turning, or drilling; to enlarge, as a hole, by means of a counterbore. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. 1. (Naut.) To brace in opposite directions; as, to counterbrace the yards, i. e., to brace the head yards one way and the after yards another. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Engin.) To brace in such a way that opposite strains are resisted; to apply counter braces to. [ 1913 Webster ]

1. (Naut.) The brace of the fore-topsail on the leeward side of a vessel. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Engin.) A brace, in a framed structure, which resists a strain of a character opposite to that which a main brace is designed to receive. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ In a quadrilateral system of bracing, the main brace is usually in the direction of one diagonal, and the counter brace in the direction of the other. Strains in counter braces are occasioned by the live load only, as, in a roof, by the wind, or, in a bridge, by a moving train. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To strike or drive back or in an opposite direction; to stop by a blow or impulse in front. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A blow in an opposite direction; a stroke that stops motion or cause a recoil. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A trick; a delusive contrivance. [ Obs. ] Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A caster of accounts; a reckoner; a bookkeeper; -- used contemptuously. [ 1913 Webster ]