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.
Related Words
Relevance
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of counterclaim
Whether OpenAI will prevail on its counterclaims is anybody's guess.
—
Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 14 Aug. 2025
Musk asked for the counterclaim, which was filed in April, to be dismissed, as the latest stage in a legal battle between Musk and Altman over the management of OpenAI, which Musk departed from in 2019.
—Theo Burman, MSNBC Newsweek, 13 Aug. 2025
Those officers then filed a counterclaim, and the court upheld their removal of Jones.
—Judy L. Thomas, Kansas City Star, 30 July 2025
In February, his lawyers filed a counterclaim in a long-dormant lawsuit, seeking to reassign blame for the demise of the Weinstein Co. to his brother and two other employees.
—Gene Maddaus, Variety, 21 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for counterclaim
Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 14 Aug. 2025
Musk asked for the counterclaim, which was filed in April, to be dismissed, as the latest stage in a legal battle between Musk and Altman over the management of OpenAI, which Musk departed from in 2019.
—Theo Burman, MSNBC Newsweek, 13 Aug. 2025
Those officers then filed a counterclaim, and the court upheld their removal of Jones.
—Judy L. Thomas, Kansas City Star, 30 July 2025
In February, his lawyers filed a counterclaim in a long-dormant lawsuit, seeking to reassign blame for the demise of the Weinstein Co. to his brother and two other employees.
—Gene Maddaus, Variety, 21 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for counterclaim
Recent Examples of Synonyms for counterclaim
Noun
-
Kidman's complaint, obtained by The Tennessean, part of the USA TODAY Network, confirmed the two are living in separate Nashville homes.—
KiMi Robinson,
USA Today,
7 Oct. 2025
-
The grand jury indictment supersedes the criminal complaint and allows the criminal case to skip the preliminary hearing phase and move toward a trial.—
Rosalio Ahumada,
Sacbee.com,
7 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
The lawsuit opens a new front in the legal battles the White House is waging against state and local officials, coming just hours after a federal judge blocked a similar deployment of the guard to Portland, Oregon.—
Dakin Andone,
CNN Money,
6 Oct. 2025
-
Both deployments drew similar lawsuits from Democratic leaders.—
Cybele Mayes-Osterman,
USA Today,
6 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Ongoing litigation In recent months, more than 400 Venezuelans with TPS have been arrested during ICE check-ins and traffic stops, even though the protections were supposed to be in place before Friday’s ruling.—
Syra Ortiz Blanes,
Miami Herald,
4 Oct. 2025
-
But as the trial date approaches and uncertainty swirls over what the lawsuit could mean for the future of stock car racing, many of the team owners expressed a feeling of urgency to see the litigation resolved and indicated the current charter system was vital for their continued existence.—
Jordan Bianchi,
New York Times,
4 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Luke denied all claims and filed a countersuit that same year.—
Sophie Dodd,
PEOPLE,
2 Oct. 2025
-
Kate Williams, chef and co-owner of celebrated restaurant Lady of the House, has filed a countersuit against the restaurant’s co-owner and investor Jason Singer, who is suing her in Oakland County Circuit Court.—
Lyndsay C. Green,
Freep.com,
26 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Counterclaim.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/counterclaim. Accessed 7 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share