counterbalance
noun
, ˌkau̇n-tər-ˈba-\
Definition of counterbalance
(Entry 1 of 2)
counterbalance
verb
, ˈkau̇n-tər-ˌba-\
Definition of counterbalance (Entry 2 of 2)
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Synonyms for counterbalance
Synonyms: Noun
balance, canceler (or canceller), corrective, counter, counteraction, counterforce, counterpoise, counterweight, equipoise, neutralizer, offset
Synonyms: Verb
annul, cancel (out), compensate (for), correct, counteract, counterpoise, make up (for), negative, neutralize, offset
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Examples of counterbalance in a Sentence
Noun
charitable giving is usually a good counterbalance to the self-indulgent commercialism of the Christmas seasonVerb
The author's wry humor counterbalances the book's serious subject matter. a hearty dinner might counterbalance missing lunch
Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
Researchers told the wire service that the thick, one-meter device, which is worn using a harness, functions the same way a money or a cheetah's tail does, by providing its owner with a counterbalance during demanding movements. — courant.com, "Japanese researchers want to give your grandma a robotic monkey tail," 21 Aug. 2019 A year after the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr., and Bobby Kennedy, with the war in Vietnam raging, Woodstock was a counterbalance. — CBS News, "Woodstock at 50, in the words, and music, of those who were there," 4 Aug. 2019 Coaches will push Thomas towards that more and more, especially since fellow safety Tony Jefferson, though better in the box than in space, is a versatile counterbalance. — Andy Benoit, SI.com, "How Will Free-Agency Losses Impact Ravens’ Top Defense?," 15 July 2019 The group was seen by some in the AI community as an important counterbalance to large technology corporations that have snapped up talent and used their computing power and huge data hoards to leap ahead in the field. — Dina Bassbloomberg, Los Angeles Times, "Microsoft to invest $1 billion in OpenAI," 22 July 2019 Will the Sixers and their ultra-big starting five provide a counterbalance to the Clips? — Rohan Nadkarni, SI.com, "The Clippers Just Became the Best Team in Los Angeles, and Perhaps the NBA," 6 July 2019 Over the next 12 hours, the counterbalances are slowly degraded, and CLOCK and BMAL1 surge back. — Quanta Magazine, "How the Body’s Trillions of Clocks Keep Time," 15 Sep. 2015 But some proteins, including PER, serve as counterbalances. — Quanta Magazine, "How the Body’s Trillions of Clocks Keep Time," 15 Sep. 2015 The new attractions provide a family-friendly counterbalance for Disney park visitors who aren’t headed to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. — Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, "Disney’s Pixar Pier marks first anniversary with opening of final attraction," 28 June 2019Recent Examples on the Web: Verb
By next year, about 60% of U.S. naval forces will be based in the Pacific, up from 40% a decade ago, partly to counterbalance China’s modernizing military. — Daniel Langhorne, Daily Pilot, "Navy awards $154 million construction contract to modernize Seal Beach base," 5 Sep. 2019 The government hopes that talk of a big fiscal boost will counterbalance the gloom. — The Economist, "Preparing for no deal is a paradoxical process," 1 Aug. 2019 What Canada’s worked to do is counterbalance that profit motive. . . — Naomi Martin, BostonGlobe.com, "In legalizing marijuana, Canada did everything differently. Here’s what we can learn," 20 July 2019 That threatens humans because amphibians counterbalance insects, such as mosquitoes, that spread disease. — Bruce Finley, The Denver Post, "Battle to save Colorado high-country toads goes microbial with ground-breaking Purple Rain treatment," 13 July 2019 That counterbalanced a relatively high rate of child and teen deaths, and low birth-weight babies. — Anna Claire Vollers | Avollers@al.com, al.com, "Despite improvement, Alabama drops in 2019 Kids Count ranking," 17 June 2019 But the resulting loss in livelihoods and wages eventually had an effect on the demand for the formal sector output, because there were no counterbalancing moves by the government. — Jayati Ghosh, Quartz India, "While India was busy celebrating its “ease of doing business” ranking, its real economy tanked," 5 Aug. 2019 Director Jordan Roberts, who also adapted the screenplay from a short story by Robyn Joy Leff, takes an affectionate but formulaic approach, mixing earnest emotional beats with requisite comedic notes to counterbalance the melodrama. — Geoff Berkshire, latimes.com, "Review: Vera Farmiga elevates the silly, sweet dramedy ‘Burn Your Maps’," 20 June 2019 But that long and disturbing history of punishment was often counterbalanced by the voices of liberation — and many of the arguments that have been prioritized by the modern LGBTQ movement can be traced deep into the past. — Michael Bronski, Time, "The Radical Woman Whose 19th Century Ideas Still Undergird the LGBTQ-Rights Movement," 25 June 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'counterbalance.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for counterbalance
counterbalance
verb
English Language Learners Definition of counterbalance
See the full definition for counterbalance in the English Language Learners Dictionary
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