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counterbalance

counterbalance is defined in Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1913) with 2 senses. The full text of each entry is reproduced verbatim below.

Definitions

  1. 1.To oppose with an equal weight or power; to counteract the power or effect of; to countervail; to equiponderate; to balance. The remaining air was not able to counterbalance the mercurial cylinder. Boyle. The cstudy of mind is necessary to counterbalance and correct the influence of the study of nature. Sir W. Hamilton.
  2. 2.A weight, power, or agency, acting against or balancing another; as: (a) A mass of metal in one side of a driving wheel or fly wheel, to balance the weight of a crank pin, etc., on the opposite side of the wheel. (b) A counterpoise to balance the weight of anything, as of a drawbridge or a scale beam. Money is the counterbalance to all other things purchasable by it. Locke.

Source: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).

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