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.
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Recent Examples of counterclaims
The team's counterclaims include defamation, civil conspiracy, tortious interference and breach of contract.
—
Jackson Thompson, FOXNews.com, 7 Oct. 2025
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
Jackson Thompson, FOXNews.com, 7 Oct. 2025
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for counterclaims
Noun
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Five years after Mallory's death, Renee reflected on her daughter's death and the subsequent lawsuits.—
Caroline Blair,
PEOPLE,
29 Oct. 2025
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The suit also claims Johnson & Johnson broke the law by transferring liability to Kenvue, which spun off in 2023, to shield their assets against lawsuits.—
N'dea Yancey-Bragg,
USA Today,
28 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Leawood police fielded nearly 400 food-poisoning complaints and conducted about 130 interviews, a volume that briefly crashed the department’s records system, according to the Johnson County Post, KSHB 41 and KCTV5.—
Christina Coulter,
PEOPLE,
28 Oct. 2025
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According to court documents, Kansas City police became aware of numerous complaints and disputes related to Metro Tow and Transport over the past several years.—
Kansas City Star,
Kansas City Star,
28 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Counterclaims.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/counterclaims. Accessed 1 Nov. 2025.
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