c o u 
.—The evils which you defire to be recounted are very 
many, and almoft countable with thofe which were hidden 
in the'bafket of Pandora. Spenfer. 
COUN'TENANCE, /! [_contenance, Fr.] The form of 
the face ; the fyftem of the features.—Air ; look : 
Well, Suffolk, yet thou flialt not fee me blufh, 
Nor change my countenance for this arreft: 
A heart unfpotted is not eafily daunted. Skakefpeare. 
So fpake our fire, and by his count'nance feem’d 
Entering on ftudious thoughts abftrufe. Milton. 
Calmnefs of look; compofure of face,—-The two great 
maxims of any great man at court are, always to keep 
his countenance, and never to keep his word. Swift. 
She fmil’d fevere ; nor with a troubled look, 
Or trembling hand, the fun’ral prefent took ; 
Ev ! n kept her count'nancc, when the lid remov’d 
Difclos’d the heart unfortunately lov’d. . Dryden. 
Confidence of mien ; afpeCt of affurance : it is commonly 
ufed in thefe phrafes, in countenance , and out of countenance. 
—It is a kind of ill manners to offer objections to a fine 
woman, and a man would be out of countenance that fliould 
gain the fuperiority in fuch a conteft : a coquette logi¬ 
cian may be rallied, but not contradicted. AddiJ'on. —It 
puts the learned in countenance, and gives them a place 
among the fafhionable part of mankind. Addifon. —Kind- 
nefs or ill-will, as it appears upon the face : 
Yet the ftout fairy, ’mongft the middeft crowd, 
Thought all their glory vain in knightly view, 
And that great princefs too, exceeding proud, 
That to ftrange knight no better countenance allow’d. Spenf. 
Patronage; appearance of favour; appearance on any 
fide ; fupport.—His majeffy maintained an army here, to 
give ftrength and countenance to the civil magiftrate. Da- 
vies .—It is the magiftrate’s peculiar province, to give 
countenance to piety and virtue, and to rebuke vice and 
profanenefs. Atterbury. —Superficial appearance ; fliow ; 
refemblance : 
O, you bleffed minifters above ! 
Keep me in patience, and with ripen’d time 
Unfold the evil, which is here wrapt up 
In countenance. Skakefpeare. 
To COUN'TENANCE, v. a . To fupport; to patro- 
r.ife ; to vindicate.—This national fault, of being fo very 
talkative, looks natural and graceful in one that has grey 
hairs to countenance it. Addifon. —To make a fhow of: 
Each to thefe ladies love did countenance , 
And to his miftrefs each himfelf itrove to advance. Spenfer. 
To aCl fuitably to any thing; to keep up any appearance: 
Malcolm ! Banquo ! 
As from your graves rife up, and walk like fprites, 
To countenance this horror. Skakefpeare. 
To encourage ; to appear in defence.—At the firft cle- 
fcent on fhore he was not immured with a wooden velfel, 
hut he did countenance the landing in his long-boat. Wotton. 
COUN'TENANCER, f. One that countenances or 
fupports another. 
COUNTER,/". A falfe piece of money ufed as a-means 
of reckoning.—Though thefe halfpence are to be re¬ 
ceived as money in the exchequer, yet in trade they are 
no better than counters. Swift. —Money, in contempt: 
When Marcus Brutus grows fo covetous, 
To lock fuch rafcal counters from his friends, 
Be ready, gods! with all your thunder-bolts 
Daflt him to pieces. Skakefpeare. 
The table on which goods are viewed, and money told, 
in a (hop.—Sometimes you fee him behind his counter fell¬ 
ing broadcloth, fometimes meafuring linen. Arbuthnot. 
Whether thy counter {hine with fums untold, 
And thy wide-grafping hand grows black with gold. Swift. 
A place .of confinement; as the Poultry-counter, and Wood- 
fr net-counter ; two prifons in London, now conlolidated 
Vol. V. No. 272, 
C O U 28o 
into one, for the ufe of the city, to confine debtors, 
peace-breakers, and other delinquents; front computare , 
to account for their offences, debts, &c. 
COUNTER of a Horfe , is that part of a horfe’s fore¬ 
hand that lies between the fhoulder and under the neck. 
COUN'TER, adv. [ contre , Fr. contra, Lat.] Contrary 
to ; in oppofition to : it is commonly ufed with the verb 
run, perhaps by a metaphor from the old tournaments.-— 
The profit of the merchant, and the gain of the kingdom, 
are fo far from being always parallels, that frequently 
they run counter one to the other. Child on Trade. —He 
thinks it brave, at his firff fetting out, to fignalizehim- 
felf in running counter to all the rules of virtue. Locke. — 
The wrong way ; contrarily to the right courfe ; 
How cheerfully on the falfe trail they cry, 
Oh, this is counter , you falfe Danifii dogs! Skakefpeare. 
Contrary ways.-—A man, whom I cannot deny, may oblige 
me to ufe perfuafions to another which, at the fame time 
I am fpeaking, I may wifh may not prevail on him : in 
this cafe, it is plain, the will and the defire run counter. 
Locke. —The face, in oppofition to the back. Not in ufe .— 
They hit one another with darts, as the other do with 
-their hands, which they never throw counter, but at the 
back of the flyer. Sandys. —This word is often found in 
compofition, and may be placed before either nouns or 
verbs ufed in a fenfe of oppofition.—That defign was no 
fooner known, but others of an oppofite party were ap¬ 
pointed to fet a coaler-petition on foot. Clarendon. 
COUN'TER,/! [from the adverb.] Trial of (kill: 
And he, the man, whom nature feif had made 
To mock herfelf, and truth to imitate. 
With kindly counter under mimic fliade, 
Our pleafant Willy, ah, is dead of late. Spenfer. 
To COUNTER A'CT, v. a. To hinder any thing from 
its effeCt by contrary agency.—In this cafe vye can find 
no principle within him ftrong enough to countcraEl that 
principle, and to relieve him. South. 
COUNTER-APPROA'CHES,/. in fortification, lines 
or trenches made by the befieged, where they come out 
to attack the lines of the beliegers in form. 
COUNTER-ATTRAC'TION, /. Oppofite attrac¬ 
tion.—Attractions of either kind are lels perfpicuous,, 
and lefs perceptible, through a variety of counter-attrac¬ 
tions that diminifh their effeCt. Skenfone. , 
To COUNTERBALANCE, v. a. To weigh againfl ; 
to aCt againft with an oppofite weight.—Few of Adam’s 
children are not born with fome bias, which it is the buli- 
nefs of education either to take off, or counterbalance . Locke. 
COUNTERBALANCE,/". Oppofite weight ; equi¬ 
valent power.—Money is the counterbalance to all other 
things purchafeable by it, and lying, as it were, in the 
oppofite fcale of commerce. Locke. 
But peaceful kings, o’er martial people fet, 
Each dther’s poife and counterbalance are. Dryden. 
COUNTER-B AT'TERY,/! A.baftery raifed to play- 
on another, to difmount the guns, &c. 
COUNTER-BREAST'WORK,/! The fame as Fanffe- 
Braye. 
To COUNTERBU'FF, v. a. To impel in a direction 
oppofite to the former impulfe ; to ffrike back : 
The giddy fhip, betwixt the winds and tides 
Forc’d back and forwards, in a circle rides, 
Stunn’d with the diffTent blows; then flioots amain, 
Till counterbvff’d live flops, and ileeps.again. Dryden. 
COUNTERBU'FF, f A blow in a contrary direc¬ 
tion; a ftroke that produces a •recoil.—He at the fccond 
gave him fuch a counterbvff, that, becatife Plmlantus was 
not to be driven from the iadd-le, the fuddle with broken 
girths was driven from the horfe. Sidney. 
COUN'TERCAST, f. Delufive contrivance 1 
Pie can devife this countercaf of flight, 
To give faire colour to that ladies’ qaufe in fight. Spenfer. 
4 D COUN'TER- 
