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Glite Dictionary
⚖️ A balancing weight ⚖️ To balance out
to counterweight

to counterweight

1 5.7
To balance something by adding weight or cancelling its effect
  • verb
  • /ˈkaʊntərˌweɪt/
translation icon : contrapesar (físico)
  • ATL, which was counterweighted with a lot of blown coverage and bad tackling by him.

Examples

  • Tony Snow is a good start, but he literally needs his own aggressive news staff to counterweight the forces against him.

    Blog text (6)

  • Both bookcases are counterweighted so they can pivot easily, - enabling the entire room to be opened up.

    Housesitter (1992)

  • The hilt was nearly a foot long, counterweighted to balance the blade.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • Moreover, the splitting technique is counterweighted by the opposing technique that interweaves the different storylines in the same paragraph, sometimes even in the same sentence.

    Academic text (1992)

  • That's why, once in a long while, other areas of Spain threaten to boycott Catalonian products to counterweight what they consider to be excessive, pure nationalistic demands from Catalonia.

    Blog text (29)

  • The designer added a counterweight to the mechanism to ensure it operated smoothly.

  • To maintain stability, the platform was counterweighted with additional support on the opposite side.

  • The artist used a counterweight system for the sculpture so it wouldn't topple over in the wind.

Synonyms

to offset
vsto counterweight
104 4.4

To reduce a bad effect by providing something that balances it

also includes doing this by adding physical weight when needed
to compensate
vsto counterweight
94 3.7

To change something to reduce a problem caused by something else

is more about physical or neutralizing balance than fixing disadvantages
to balance out
vsto counterweight
25 3.5

Make things equal and make up for a lack so nothing is too much or too little

is narrower, adding weight or neutralizing effects rather than simple equality
to countervail
vsto counterweight
  • Formal
4 9.3

To act against something to reduce its effect

can refer equally to physical balancing or general neutralizing action
to counterpoise
vsto counterweight
1 9.8

To balance something by acting against it

focuses more on adding weight or neutralizing overall effect
to counterpose
vsto counterweight
8.4

To act as a balance against a strong opposite force

is broader, covering adding physical weight or neutralizing effects

How Effective

to neutralize
39 5.6
to counterweight
1 5.7
to diminish
201 3.7

Surface Forms

counterweight infinitive
counterweighted past
counterweighted past participle
counterweighting present participle
counterweights third person singular

Morphology

counterweight = counterweight (semi-transparent) = counter + weight

The verb is a conversion from the noun 'counterweight', and the balancing sense is clear, though the broader 'neutralize' meaning is a somewhat extended use.

Etymology

The verb counterweight comes from the same parts: counter- 'against' and weight 'a heavy thing', so to counterweight something is to add something that pushes back or balances it. That's why we say a policy or action can counterweight a problem by reducing or balancing its bad effect.