Meanings
nouncountertime (countable and uncountable, plural countertimes)
plural countertimes
- countableobsoleteuncountableOpposition; resistance.
Let cheerfulneſs on happy Fortune wait, / And give not thus the Counter-time to Fate.
1675, John Dryden, Aureng-zebe: A Tragedy. […], London: […] T[homas] N[ewcomb] for Henry Herringman, […], published 1676, →OCLC, Act IV, page 56 - countableobsoleteuncountableequestrianismThe resistance of a horse that interrupts its cadence and the measure of its manège, caused by bad horsemanship or the bad temper of the horse.
Origin
From counter- + time. Compare contretemps.
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
countertime. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/countertime
MLA
“countertime.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/countertime. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “countertime,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/countertime.
Source: countertime on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.