Over-counter

adverb
1.
not transacted through an organized securities exchange; directly to the buyer or from the seller:
He sold his stocks over the counter.
2.
Pharmacology. without a doctor’s prescription but within the law.
[koun-ter] /ˈkaʊn tər/
noun
1.
a table or display case on which goods can be shown, business transacted, etc.
2.
(in restaurants, luncheonettes, etc.) a long, narrow table with stools or chairs along one side for the patrons, behind which refreshments or meals are prepared and served.
3.
a surface for the preparation of food in a kitchen, especially on a low cabinet.
4.
anything used in keeping account, as a disk of metal or wood, used in some games, as checkers, for marking a player’s position or for keeping score.
5.
an imitation coin or token.
6.
a coin; money.
Idioms
7.
over the counter,

8.
under the counter, in a clandestine manner, especially illegally:
books sold under the counter.
/ˈkaʊntə/
noun
1.
a horizontal surface, as in a shop or bank, over which business is transacted
2.
(in some cafeterias) a long table on which food is served to customers
3.

4.
a person or thing that may be used or manipulated
5.
a skating figure consisting of three circles
6.
(under-the-counter when prenominal) under the counter, (of the sale of goods, esp goods in short supply) clandestine, surreptitious, or illegal; not in an open manner
7.
(over-the-counter when prenominal) over the counter, (of security transactions) through a broker rather than on a stock exchange
/ˈkaʊntə/
adverb
1.
in a contrary direction or manner
2.
in a wrong or reverse direction
3.
run counter to, to have a contrary effect or action to
adjective
4.
opposing; opposite; contrary
noun
5.
something that is contrary or opposite to some other thing
6.
an act, effect, or force that opposes another
7.
a return attack, such as a blow in boxing
8.
(fencing) a parry in which the foils move in a circular fashion
9.
the portion of the stern of a boat or ship that overhangs the water aft of the rudder
10.
(printing) Also called void. the inside area of a typeface that is not type high, such as the centre of an “o”, and therefore does not print
11.
the part of a horse’s breast under the neck and between the shoulders
12.
a piece of leather forming the back of a shoe
verb
13.
to say or do (something) in retaliation or response
14.
(transitive) to move, act, or perform in a manner or direction opposite to (a person or thing)
15.
to return the attack of (an opponent)
/ˈkaʊntə/
noun
1.
a person who counts
2.
an apparatus that records the number of occurrences of events
3.
any instrument for detecting or counting ionizing particles or photons See Geiger counter, scintillation counter, crystal counter
4.
(electronics) another name for scaler (sense 2)
n.

mid-14c., “table where a money lender does business,” from Old French contouer, comptoir (14c.) “counting room, table of a bank,” from Medieval Latin computatorium “place of accounts,” from Latin computatus, past participle of computare (see compute). Generalized 19c. from banks to shops, then extended to display cases for goods. Phrase under the counter is from 1926.
v.

“go against,” late 14c., from Old French countre “facing opposite” (see counter-). Related: Countered; countering. As an adverb, from mid-15c.; as an adjective, from 1590s.

counter count·er (koun’tər)
n.
One that counts, especially an electronic or mechanical device that automatically counts occurrences or repetitions of phenomena or events.

Related Terms

comma-counter, bean counter
see: