"countersway" meaning in English

See countersway in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Forms: countersways [plural]
Etymology: From counter- + sway. Etymology templates: {{prefix|en|counter|sway}} counter- + sway Head templates: {{en-noun}} countersway (plural countersways)
  1. (obsolete) A swaying in a contrary direction, or an opposing influence. Tags: obsolete
    Sense id: en-countersway-en-noun-rFOYbhsx

Verb

Forms: countersways [present, singular, third-person], counterswaying [participle, present], counterswayed [participle, past], counterswayed [past]
Etymology: From counter- + sway. Etymology templates: {{prefix|en|counter|sway}} counter- + sway Head templates: {{en-verb}} countersway (third-person singular simple present countersways, present participle counterswaying, simple past and past participle counterswayed)
  1. (rare) To sway in the opposite direction, or (figurative) to hae opposing influence. Tags: rare
    Sense id: en-countersway-en-verb-8SKyOteT Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English terms prefixed with counter-, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 29 71 Disambiguation of English terms prefixed with counter-: 44 56 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 22 78 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 12 88

Inflected forms

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "counter",
        "3": "sway"
      },
      "expansion": "counter- + sway",
      "name": "prefix"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From counter- + sway.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "countersways",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "countersway (plural countersways)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              2,
              13
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1643, J[ohn] M[ilton], The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce: […], London: […] T[homas] P[aine] and M[atthew] S[immons] […], →OCLC:",
          "text": "a countersway of restraint, curbing their wild exorbitance",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A swaying in a contrary direction, or an opposing influence."
      ],
      "id": "en-countersway-en-noun-rFOYbhsx",
      "links": [
        [
          "sway",
          "sway"
        ],
        [
          "contrary",
          "contrary"
        ],
        [
          "direction",
          "direction"
        ],
        [
          "opposing",
          "opposing"
        ],
        [
          "influence",
          "influence"
        ],
        [
          "Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary",
          "w:Webster's Dictionary#Webster's New International Dictionary 1909"
        ],
        [
          "G. & C. Merriam",
          "w:Merriam-Webster"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(obsolete) A swaying in a contrary direction, or an opposing influence."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "obsolete"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "countersway"
}

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "counter",
        "3": "sway"
      },
      "expansion": "counter- + sway",
      "name": "prefix"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From counter- + sway.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "countersways",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "counterswaying",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "counterswayed",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "counterswayed",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "countersway (third-person singular simple present countersways, present participle counterswaying, simple past and past participle counterswayed)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "29 71",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "44 56",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms prefixed with counter-",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "22 78",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "12 88",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              20,
              32
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2011, Stephen F. Kelly, The Kop: Liverpool's Twelfth Man:",
          "text": "The Kop[…]sways and countersways to the music",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To sway in the opposite direction, or (figurative) to hae opposing influence."
      ],
      "id": "en-countersway-en-verb-8SKyOteT",
      "links": [
        [
          "sway",
          "sway"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(rare) To sway in the opposite direction, or (figurative) to hae opposing influence."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "rare"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "countersway"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms prefixed with counter-",
    "English verbs",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries"
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "counter",
        "3": "sway"
      },
      "expansion": "counter- + sway",
      "name": "prefix"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From counter- + sway.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "countersways",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "countersway (plural countersways)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with obsolete senses",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              2,
              13
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1643, J[ohn] M[ilton], The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce: […], London: […] T[homas] P[aine] and M[atthew] S[immons] […], →OCLC:",
          "text": "a countersway of restraint, curbing their wild exorbitance",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A swaying in a contrary direction, or an opposing influence."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "sway",
          "sway"
        ],
        [
          "contrary",
          "contrary"
        ],
        [
          "direction",
          "direction"
        ],
        [
          "opposing",
          "opposing"
        ],
        [
          "influence",
          "influence"
        ],
        [
          "Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary",
          "w:Webster's Dictionary#Webster's New International Dictionary 1909"
        ],
        [
          "G. & C. Merriam",
          "w:Merriam-Webster"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(obsolete) A swaying in a contrary direction, or an opposing influence."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "obsolete"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "countersway"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms prefixed with counter-",
    "English verbs",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries"
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "counter",
        "3": "sway"
      },
      "expansion": "counter- + sway",
      "name": "prefix"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From counter- + sway.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "countersways",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "counterswaying",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "counterswayed",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "counterswayed",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "countersway (third-person singular simple present countersways, present participle counterswaying, simple past and past participle counterswayed)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with rare senses"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              20,
              32
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2011, Stephen F. Kelly, The Kop: Liverpool's Twelfth Man:",
          "text": "The Kop[…]sways and countersways to the music",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To sway in the opposite direction, or (figurative) to hae opposing influence."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "sway",
          "sway"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(rare) To sway in the opposite direction, or (figurative) to hae opposing influence."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "rare"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "countersway"
}

Download raw JSONL data for countersway meaning in English (2.9kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-02-11 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-02-01 using wiktextract (f492ef9 and 59dc20b). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.