as in lawsuits
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 counterclaims
The Jane the Virgin alum’s counterclaims against Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, which involved allegations of extortion and defamation, were dismissed by Judge Liman in June.
—
Jack Smart, PEOPLE, 9 Sep. 2025
Earlier this month, a judge allowed OpenAI to move forward with counterclaims against Musk.
—Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune, 22 Aug. 2025
Whether OpenAI will prevail on its counterclaims is anybody's guess.
—Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 14 Aug. 2025
The ruling came despite Musk's legal team requesting that the counterclaims be dismissed.
—Theo Burman, MSNBC Newsweek, 13 Aug. 2025
Jack Smart, PEOPLE, 9 Sep. 2025
Earlier this month, a judge allowed OpenAI to move forward with counterclaims against Musk.
—Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune, 22 Aug. 2025
Whether OpenAI will prevail on its counterclaims is anybody's guess.
—Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 14 Aug. 2025
The ruling came despite Musk's legal team requesting that the counterclaims be dismissed.
—Theo Burman, MSNBC Newsweek, 13 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for counterclaims
Noun
-
On the extreme, digital accessibility might be seen as purely a compliance issue – a means of adhering to regulations and avoiding lawsuits and bad publicity.—
Gus Alexiou,
Forbes.com,
17 Sep. 2025
-
Trump has initiated a flurry of defamation lawsuits against media companies, accusing them of false or misleading coverage.—
Anniek Bao,
CNBC,
16 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
The Labour government has attempted to tame resentment by catering to the public’s most prominent complaints, particularly immigration.—
Timothy Nerozzi,
The Washington Examiner,
17 Sep. 2025
-
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
Cite this Entry
“Counterclaims.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/counterclaims. Accessed 18 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share