Meanings
plural countershafts · alternative counter shaft
- Synonym of jackshaft (“a mechanical component for rotational force”).
1 more example
Instead of the pistons driving through the connecting-rods directly on to the wheels that carry the weight of the engine, the Drachenfels piston and connecting-rod drove on to a countershaft which carried two small cog wheels. The latter engaged with two larger gears, between which, and on the same shaft, was the pinion to engage with the rack rail.
1952 December, John C. Gillham, “Rack Railways at Königswinter”, in Railway Magazine, page 843Synonyms: jackshaft
present singular third person countershafts · participle present countershafting · participle past countershafted · past countershafted
Synonyms & antonyms
nounSynonym of jackshaft (“a mechanical component for rotational force”).
verbSynonym of jackshaft.
Origin
Cite this entry
countershaft. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/countershaft
“countershaft.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/countershaft. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “countershaft,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/countershaft.
Source: countershaft on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.