1. One who counts, or reckons up; a calculator; a reckoner.
2. A piece of metal, ivory, wood, or bone, used in reckoning, in keeping account of games, etc. The old gods of our own race whose names . . . serve as counters reckon the days of the week. E. B. Tylor. What comes the wool to . . . I can not do it witthout counters. Shak.
3. Money; coin; — used in contempt. [Obs.] To lock such rascal counters from his friends. Shak.
4. A prison; either of two prisons formerly in London. Anne Aysavugh . . . imprisoned in the Counter. Fuller.
5. A telltale; a contrivance attached to an engine, printing press, or other machine, for the purpose of counting the revolutions or the pulsations. Knight.
COUNTER Coun"ter, n. Etym: [OE. countour, OF. contouer, comptouer, F. comptoir, LL. computatorium, prop., a computing place, place of accounts, fr. L. computare. See Count, v. t.]
Defn: A table or board on which money is counted and over which business is transacted; a long, narrow table or bench, on which goods are laid for examination by purchasers, or on which they are weighed or measured.
COUNTER
Coun"ter, adv. Etym: [F. contre, fr. L. contra against. Cf. Contra-.]
1. Contrary; in opposition; in an opposite direction; contrariwise; - - used chiefly with run or go. Running counter to all the rules of virtue. Locks.
2. In the wrong way; contrary to the right course; as, a hound that runs counter. This is counter, you false Danish dogs! Shak.