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
Perhaps more importantly, CAA’s counterclaims accusing the agents of stealing trade secrets on their way out and starting a rival agency that masquerades as a management firm were rejected.
—
Winston Cho, HollywoodReporter, 8 Apr. 2026
The other focused on counterclaims.
—Jon Wilner, Mercury News, 4 Apr. 2026
Baldoni, who also directed the film, filed counterclaims against Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, which Liman dismissed in June.
—Jessica Schladebeck, New York Daily News, 3 Apr. 2026
But his previously unreported warning was the first of a torrent of claims and counterclaims shared by conservative commentators after Kirk’s death.
—Ben Smith, semafor.com, 31 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for counterclaim
Winston Cho, HollywoodReporter, 8 Apr. 2026
The other focused on counterclaims.
—Jon Wilner, Mercury News, 4 Apr. 2026
Baldoni, who also directed the film, filed counterclaims against Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, which Liman dismissed in June.
—Jessica Schladebeck, New York Daily News, 3 Apr. 2026
But his previously unreported warning was the first of a torrent of claims and counterclaims shared by conservative commentators after Kirk’s death.
—Ben Smith, semafor.com, 31 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for counterclaim
Recent Examples of Synonyms for counterclaim
Noun
-
The fraud scheme netted $20 million from fraudulent loans that Davis and Evins used to buy real estate, jewelry and cars, according to the complaint.—
Ryan Gaydos OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
28 Apr. 2026
-
After Navarro filed a complaint alleging the work had been wrongly kept from her, a Madrid judge, acting with the support of prosecutors, ordered Spain’s Ministry of Culture to take custody of it citing its potential importance to the country’s historical heritage.—
Daniel Cassady,
ARTnews.com,
28 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
The events at the heart of the lawsuit were set in motion May 1, 2024, when pro-Palestinian student activists established the encampment near Geisel Library.—
Alex Riggins,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
2 May 2026
-
After hearing from both sides, justices will decide whether to approve Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit, which DiZoglio filed in February, and whether the auditor should be allowed to have a special outside lawyer in the case.—
Lance Reynolds,
Boston Herald,
2 May 2026
Noun
-
None of this would’ve been possible without Lively and Baldoni, adversaries whose spite and resources compelled them to continue to pursue litigation when just about everyone else in their positions would have quickly settled in the cloaked realm of arbitration.—
Gary Baum,
HollywoodReporter,
30 Apr. 2026
-
Meta’s mounting child safety litigation poses another potential obstacle.—
Bloomberg,
Mercury News,
30 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
That lawsuit, along with a countersuit by the PGA Tour, was dismissed a year later.—
Tim Reynolds,
Chicago Tribune,
1 May 2026
-
In her countersuit, Heard won one of the three defamation counts, and she was awarded $2 million in damages.—
Stephanie Sengwe,
PEOPLE,
27 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Counterclaim.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/counterclaim. Accessed 4 May. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
