as in complaint
a court case brought against the plaintiff of another court case by the defendant
The defendant filed a counterclaim for his own injuries, claiming that he only rear-ended the plaintiff because she had stopped too fast.
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Recent Examples of counterclaim
Those officers then filed a counterclaim, and the court upheld their removal of Jones.
—
Judy L. Thomas, Kansas City Star, 30 July 2025
Buffett's widow, Jane Buffett, demanded the musician's financial advisor be removed as a co-trustee from the couple's marital trust in a counterclaim filed July 21.
—Lauryn Overhultz, FOXNews.com, 24 July 2025
In the counterclaim, Harvey Weinstein asserted that Bob Weinstein and David Glasser took millions in unjustified payments before the bankruptcy, leaving it vulnerable to insolvency.
—Gene Maddaus, Variety, 21 July 2025
The verdict came June 1, 2022: Depp won his defamation claims, and Heard won one of her three counterclaims.
—Benjamin Vanhoose, People.com, 17 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for counterclaim
Judy L. Thomas, Kansas City Star, 30 July 2025
Buffett's widow, Jane Buffett, demanded the musician's financial advisor be removed as a co-trustee from the couple's marital trust in a counterclaim filed July 21.
—Lauryn Overhultz, FOXNews.com, 24 July 2025
In the counterclaim, Harvey Weinstein asserted that Bob Weinstein and David Glasser took millions in unjustified payments before the bankruptcy, leaving it vulnerable to insolvency.
—Gene Maddaus, Variety, 21 July 2025
The verdict came June 1, 2022: Depp won his defamation claims, and Heard won one of her three counterclaims.
—Benjamin Vanhoose, People.com, 17 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for counterclaim
Recent Examples of Synonyms for counterclaim
Noun
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Participating buyers agree to purchase produce from farms that adhere to the program’s stringent set of protections for workers, let workers be informed about their rights by the CIW and allow independent auditors to investigate complaints from their fields.—
Max Blau,
ProPublica,
16 Sep. 2025
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Penske’s complaint argues that practice isn’t a fair exchange and has caused significant financial harm, with the company’s affiliate revenue falling by more than a third (as a result of Google’s AI Overviews co-opting traffic that might have otherwise gone to Penske outlets).—
Andy Meek,
Forbes.com,
15 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Trump has initiated a flurry of defamation lawsuits against media companies, accusing them of false or misleading coverage.—
Anniek Bao,
CNBC,
16 Sep. 2025
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In a court filing ahead of the settlement in the music label fight, IA had argued that labels had added an avalanche of infringing works so late into the lawsuit to create leverage to force a settlement.—
Ashley Belanger,
ArsTechnica,
15 Sep. 2025
Noun
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The only period in modern times that carbon storage increased there was during a decade-long moratorium following protests and litigation.—
John P. O’Brien,
Mercury News,
13 Sep. 2025
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The new location will allow Wiggam Law to support clients outside of downtown Atlanta and directly in Gwinnett County, offering legal services including audit defense, tax litigation, penalty abatement, innocent spouse relief and IRS collections representation.—
Kelly Phillips Erb,
Forbes.com,
13 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Baldoni, who also acted on The CW dramedy Jane the Virgin, filed a $400 million countersuit against Lively and her husband, actor Ryan Reynolds, though a judge threw it out in June.—
Joey Nolfi,
Entertainment Weekly,
10 Sep. 2025
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In June, Baldoni’s $400 million countersuit was tossed out.—
Dominic Patten,
Deadline,
28 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Counterclaim.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/counterclaim. Accessed 16 Sep. 2025.
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