countervail

verb coun·ter·vail \ ˌkau̇n-tər-ˈvāl \

|Updated on: 15 May 2018

Definition of countervail

countervailed; countervailing; countervails

transitive verb

1 : to compensate for

2 archaic : equal, match

3 : to exert force against : counteract

intransitive verb

: to exert force against an opposing and often bad or harmful force or influence

Recent Examples of countervail from the Web

Yet Karplus includes a tree in the foreground as a countervailing vertical.

— mark feeney, BostonGlobe.com, "At Cambridge Public Library, photos in color, in the stacks, in Cambridge," 8 May 2018
Competitors, such as Lyft, at least acknowledged the countervailing interests, but Uber relentlessly pushes forward, painting cities as greedy protectors of incumbent firms and regulators as clueless impediments to progress.

— kevin werbach, Philly.com, "When crises come, ethically challenged firms such as Uber are most vulnerable, Wharton prof says," 16 Apr. 2018
The most momentous development of our era, precisely, is the waning of the nation state: its inability to withstand countervailing 21st-century forces, and its calamitous loss of influence over human circumstance.

— aaron gilbreath, Longreads, "Welcome to the New Transnational Paradigm," 12 Apr. 2018
This ethos of balancing has extended beyond constitutional schemes, with the later advent of robust, objectively minded newspapers and labor unions, each theoretically serving as a countervailing center of power.

— franklin foer, The Atlantic, "Silicon Valley Falls to Earth," 9 Apr. 2018
That's because the target countries can simply impose countervailing tariffs on an equal volume of their imports from the U.S., leading to no net gain—as China has threatened to do.

— michael hiltzik, latimes.com, "Trump's trade war won't achieve what he wants, but it will hurt American workers and consumers," 5 Apr. 2018
Trump said in his statement that the U.S. Trade Representative will discuss resolving separate antidumping and countervailing duty measures imposed on Chinese solar products and U.S. polysilicon.

— Fortune, "President Trump's Solar Tariffs Are a Big Blow to Renewables," 23 Jan. 2018
As a result of these countervailing forces, this case isn’t very different from other free-speech cases the Supreme Court has entertained in recent years.

— cristian farias, Daily Intelligencer, "Rough Justice for Public Unions," 26 Feb. 2018
Trump said in his statement that the U.S. Trade Representative will discuss resolving separate antidumping and countervailing duty measures imposed on Chinese solar products and U.S. polysilicon.

— Fortune, "President Trump's Solar Tariffs Are a Big Blow to Renewables," 23 Jan. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'countervail.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.