counterpoise

American  

[kaun-ter-poiz] / ˈkaʊn tərˌpɔɪz /

noun

1. a counterbalancing weight.

2. any equal and opposing power or force.

3. the state of being in equilibrium; balance.

4. Radio. a network of wires or other conductors connected to the base of an antenna, used as a substitute for the ground connection.

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verb (used with object)

counterpoised, counterpoising

1. to balance by an opposing weight; counteract by an opposing force.

2. to bring into equilibrium.

3. Archaic. to weigh (one thing) against something else; consider carefully.

counterpoise British  

/ ˈkaʊntəˌpɔɪz /

noun

1. a force, influence, etc, that counterbalances another

2. a state of balance; equilibrium

3. a weight that balances another

4. a radial array of metallic wires, rods, or tubes arranged horizontally around the base of a vertical aerial to increase its transmitting efficiency

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verb

1. to oppose with something of equal effect, weight, or force; offset

2. to bring into equilibrium

3. archaic to consider (one thing) carefully in relation to another

Etymology

Origin of counterpoise

1375–1425; counter- + poise ¹; replacing late Middle English countrepeis < Anglo-French, equivalent to Old French contrepois

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

counterpoise counterpoised counterpoising

Molina, the embodiment of theatrical excellence, is perfectly cast as the rational counterpoise to Brady’s zealotry.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 7, 2023

We can counterpoise that to the pediatric possessive: “You’re going to take your bath,” “It’s time for your nap.”

From The New Yorker ● May 13, 2019

What Sofiya succeeds in doing in her novel is to counterpoise, to her husband’s inability to conjure love, her own utterly different vision.

From Slate ● Feb. 1, 2015

At times Bond acts as a counterpoise to Wanamaker's despair; at other times, as when she voices Eleanor's escalating insecurities, she brings her own tragic intensity to the role.

From The Guardian ● May 7, 2013

Sulla, however, had a counterpoise to any demerits of his own, in the still greater demerits of those who were opposed to him.

From The Comic History of Rome by Gilbert Abbott ? Becket

In a cluttered information age, where attention is a prized and scarce commodity, Nuzzi and Lizza—with their perfectly counterpoised surnames—have somehow broken through.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 6, 2025

The bed, on a low plinth, is counterpoised with a 19th-century Italian settee, and the angles of a Flavin fluorescent work echo the cast-iron windows overlooking Mercer Street.

From New York Times ● Dec. 9, 2019

In the more lush musical passages, she counterpoised a subtle sense of freeze-framing, with the dancers halting momentarily so we could absorb the length and reach of their unfolding shapes.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 25, 2019

It’s composed in a rare register: mourning and fury counterpoised by humor and a refusal of despair.

From New York Times ● Feb. 20, 2018

While these remain exactly counterpoised, the mass necessarily continues entire; but the least excess of the centrifugal over the attractive force would be attended with the effect of separating the mass and its outer parts. 

From Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation by Robert Chambers

The counterpoising or balancing medium consisted of money to be given to the Church.

From The Mysteries of All Nations Rise and Progress of Superstition, Laws Against and Trials of Witches, Ancient and Modern Delusions Together With Strange Customs, Fables, and Tales by James Grant

P. B. Luther and Ignatius Loyola.—A parallel or counterpoising view of these two characters has been quoted in several publications, some of recent date; but in all it is attributed to a wrong source.

From Notes and Queries, Number 69, February 22, 1851 A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc. by George Bell

This fatal instance of the inveteracy of this disorder, when once introduced into the colony, has not been without its counterpoising benefit.

From Statistical, Historical and Political Description of the Colony of New South Wales and its Dependent Settlements in Van Diemen's Land With a Particular Enumeration of the Advantages Which These Colonies Offer for Emigration, and Their Superiority in Many Respects Over Those Possessed by the United States of America by William Charles Wentworth

Also, a counterpoising log of wood, rigged out from the side of a narrow boat or canoe, to prevent it from being upset.

From The Sailor's Word-Book An Alphabetical Digest of Nautical Terms, including Some More Especially Military and Scientific, but Useful to Seamen; as well as Archaisms of Early Voyagers, etc. by Sir Edward Belcher

The attraction exerted on a flat armature across air gaps 2 millimeters thick was measured by counterpoising.

From Scientific American Supplement, No. 787, January 31, 1891 by Various

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