countermove

noun

coun·​ter·​move ˈkau̇n-tər-ˌmüv 

variants or counter-move

plural countermoves or counter-moves

: a move designed to check, offset, or counter another move

Chess-playing programs, for instance, were … instructed to look ahead and try to calculate all possible moves and countermoves.

—Tom Alexander

… had seen … a linebacker drift out and line up nose to nose on a wide receiver. It surprised them, and they had come up with a countermove.

—Mark Bowden

… wanted to play out the long-term implications of possible U.S. moves and Iranian countermoves.

—James Fallows

"Their kidnapping of Miss Tuppence is the counter-move to your escape."

—Agatha Christie

Examples of countermove in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Instead of using her platform to argue with her detractors, Reese made a countermove that simultaneously shored up her own brand by amplifying her commitment to societal change, and invalidated the critique. —Timeka Tounsel, Forbes.com, 18 Sep. 2025

Governors of Democratic states, such as California, are plotting countermoves with their states’ maps. —Rick Pearson, Chicago Tribune, 8 Aug. 2025

Trading for Suárez, then, would eventually require an undesirable countermove, such as putting Kyle Schwarber back in left field. —Drew Vonscio, MSNBC Newsweek, 26 July 2025

There were moves and countermoves galore down the homestretch. —Dalton Ross, EW.com, 15 May 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1858, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for countermove

• disapprove
• approve
• disprove
• improve
• remove
• reprove
• groove
• move
• prove