counterbalance
Americannoun
verb (used with or without object)
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counterbalances,
present (3rd person singular)
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counterbalanced,
past participle, past
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counterbalancing
present participle
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
counterbalancesimple
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counterbalancessimple
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have counterbalancedperfect
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has counterbalancedperfect
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am counterbalancingprogressive
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are counterbalancingprogressive
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is counterbalancingprogressive
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have been counterbalancingperfect progressive
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has been counterbalancingperfect progressive
Past
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counterbalancedsimple
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had counterbalancedperfect
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was counterbalancingprogressive
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were counterbalancingprogressive
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had been counterbalancingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of counterbalance
Vocabulary lists containing counterbalance
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The deepening ties also help North Korea counterbalance the historically dominant influence of its other neighbor across the Tumen—China—and diversify its foreign support.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
"We initially thought the kidney-protective effects of SGLT2 inhibitors might counterbalance the potential harms associated with DCCBs," said Dr. Agur.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 18, 2026
“Badlands,” where Springsteen exhorts, “talk about a dream, try to make it real,” comes after “Tom Joad” as a counterbalance to the tale of hope and despair that precedes it.
From Salon ● May 28, 2026
"And the best way to counterbalance it is with a living example, with reality,"
From BBC ● May 20, 2026
And every time he told a story, as if to counterbalance the motion, Theresa’s heart sank.
From "Typical American" by Gish Jen
But as fertility rates fall, migration counterbalances the negative effects of an ageing population and labour force contraction, the report said.
From Barron's ● Jul. 14, 2026
This distant mass counterbalances the Local Group's gravity.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 6, 2026
There are moments of tender resplendence that are as piercing as the cruelty — compassion that counterbalances the inhumanities Elwood faces.
From Salon ● Dec. 13, 2024
But he cites longstanding maritime connections and the military police as reassuring counterbalances.
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2023
In such a case there may be an emphasis of emotion; that is, the statement may be made with an intensity that counterbalances the weight of the larger treatment.
From English: Composition and Literature by W. F. (William Franklin) Webster
The gags are counterbalanced by generous helpings of schmaltz, with much talk of the power of the feminine and how sisterhood defeats all.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
Chief Justice John Roberts, who authored the opinions in Slaughter and Cook, handed them down as a paired set, as though one counterbalanced the other.
From Slate ● Jun. 29, 2026
To keep his equations from predicting a collapsing universe, he introduced the cosmological constant as a kind of repulsive effect in empty space that counterbalanced gravity.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 19, 2026
Yet these worries have been counterbalanced in part by signs that the U.S. economy remains in good shape, with GDP growth remaining solid while the labor market is “hanging in there.”
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 3, 2026
A population’s inherent inclination to expand would be severely counterbalanced by the limitations of resources; its natural wont met by natural want.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
And then the relationship with Andi is so counterbalancing in a really delightful way.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 18, 2026
Another is Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities, which adviser Mike Casey, who is based in Alexandria, Va., suggested as a way to provide an inflation hedge for retirees — something that is important beyond simply counterbalancing stocks.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 30, 2026
From an economist’s view, hiking rates and counterbalancing the fiscal push is what the BOJ should do.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 1, 2025
"Our research suggests that the counterbalancing temperature and emission feedbacks should be considered to improve the accuracy of climate change predictions in the Arctic."
From Science Daily ● Nov. 26, 2024
“I will here express but one sentiment,” Hamilton warned his Federalist colleagues, “which is, the Dismemberment of our Empire will be a clear sacrifice...without any counterbalancing good.”
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
