counterselection

noun

Selection that removes unwanted characteristics.

Scrabble 20
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Meanings

nouncounterselection (countable and uncountable, plural counterselections)

plural counterselections

  1. countableuncountableSelection that removes unwanted characteristics.

    In all recipients, distant drug resistance markers streptomycin (SmR; rpsL104), chloramphenicol (CmR; recA::cat(FRT)), and/or nalidixic acid (NlR; gyrA96) were used for counterselection.

    2015 July 11, “Novel recA -Independent Horizontal Gene Transfer in Escherichia coli K-12”, in PLOS ONE, →DOI
  2. countableuncountableevolutionary theoryDysgenic selection (that has the opposite effects of natural selection).

Origin

From counter- + selection.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

counterselection. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/counterselection

MLA

“counterselection.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/counterselection. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “counterselection,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/counterselection.

Source: counterselection on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.