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
Fareway filed a counterclaim, and the parties agreed to dismiss the case in November.
—
Curt Devine, CNN Money, 17 Dec. 2025
Claims and counterclaims and various legal motions piled up on both coasts, but the core dispute remained, more or less, constant.
—Literary Hub, 16 Dec. 2025
Mbappe’s legal side are seeking €263million (£230m; $309m) in total, while PSG have filed a counterclaim against Mbappe, asking for around €440m in damages.
—Tom Burrows, New York Times, 12 Dec. 2025
Now the Hancock County winery has filed a counterclaim alleging unfair treatment.
—Heather Bushman, IndyStar, 13 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for counterclaim
Curt Devine, CNN Money, 17 Dec. 2025
Claims and counterclaims and various legal motions piled up on both coasts, but the core dispute remained, more or less, constant.
—Literary Hub, 16 Dec. 2025
Mbappe’s legal side are seeking €263million (£230m; $309m) in total, while PSG have filed a counterclaim against Mbappe, asking for around €440m in damages.
—Tom Burrows, New York Times, 12 Dec. 2025
Now the Hancock County winery has filed a counterclaim alleging unfair treatment.
—Heather Bushman, IndyStar, 13 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for counterclaim
Recent Examples of Synonyms for counterclaim
Noun
-
The complaint was dismissed with prejudice.—
Mary Divine,
Twin Cities,
18 Feb. 2026
-
The data is less clear that dog ownership increased in New York City specifically, but complaints about dog poop left on the ground certainly did.—
Clio Chang,
Curbed,
17 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Some records from the year-long exchange of evidence in the lawsuit battle were already released publicly in response to a federal appeals court order.—
Michael R. Sisak,
Los Angeles Times,
22 Feb. 2026
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The tobacco trials — which took place over decades but began to shift in favor of plaintiffs in the ’90s — similarly saw various types of plaintiffs file a wave of lawsuits, contributing to the release of internal documents and testing new legal theories.—
Clare Duffy,
CNN Money,
22 Feb. 2026
Noun
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To reduce the burden of that litigation, the company is offering compensation to victims who give up their right to sue.—
Melody Petersen,
Los Angeles Times,
19 Feb. 2026
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Some litigation now has blocked that practice, and officials with Sanitation, DHS and the NYPD should be careful to not compound the issue by treating encampment-dwellers with respect.—
New York Daily News Editorial Board,
New York Daily News,
19 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
In response, Ramanujan Group filed a countersuit against Nano Banc, court papers show.—
George Avalos,
Mercury News,
5 Feb. 2026
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Baldoni later filed a separate $400 million countersuit accusing Lively of extortion and defamation, which has since been dismissed by a judge.—
Elizabeth Rosner,
PEOPLE,
3 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Counterclaim.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/counterclaim. Accessed 25 Feb. 2026.
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