Counter

[From count; Fr. compter.] He who, or that which, counts; as, a counter of money. That which is used as a means of reckoning or counting; anything used to keep an account of reckoning, as in games; an imitation of a piece of money used in games; as, ivory counters. "These half-pence... are no better than counters."- Swift . -Money:-used in a contemptuous sense. "When Marcus Brutus grows so covetous, To lock such rascal counters from his friends."-Shaks. -A table or board on which money is counted, or on which goods are laid out for inspection; as, a bank counter. -A prison. (A term applied to some prisons in London.) ( Naut .) That part of a ship between the taffrail and the wing-trans on and buttock. (Mus.) See COUNTER-TENOR, CONTRALTO, . (Furriery.) That part of the fore-hand of a horse that lies between the shoulders, and under the neck. -The hind-leather of a boot. -a. [Fr. contre; Lat contra.] Contrary; in opposition; contrariwise; as, a counter principle. -ade . Contrary; in opposition; in an opposite direction; contrariwise; -used, commonly, in conjunction with the verbs to run and to go . "Running counter to all the rules of virtue."-Locke. -In the wrong way; in a contrary direction to the right "Oh, this is counter, you false Danish dog."-Shake. course.