{
    "term": "counter",
    "partOfSpeech": "noun",
    "ox5000": true,
    "cefr": "b2",
    "image": "data/images/ki/kitchen.png",
    "definitions": [
        {
            "senseNumber": 1,
            "definition": "a long flat surface over which goods are sold or business is done in a shop, bank, etc.",
            "sensetop": "behind the counter",
            "cefr": "b2",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "I asked the woman behind the counter if they had any postcards.",
                    "contextForm": "behind the counter"
                },
                {
                    "text": "He pushed the money across the counter to me."
                },
                {
                    "text": "He works at the meat counter."
                },
                {
                    "text": "I served behind the counter at the cafe for a few hours a week."
                },
                {
                    "text": "She handed me my coffee over the counter."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The assistant behind the counter gave a curt nod."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The bartender wiped down the counter in silence."
                },
                {
                    "text": "There was a line of people waiting at the checkout counter."
                },
                {
                    "text": "They sat on high stools at the bar counter."
                },
                {
                    "text": "all the goods on the counter"
                },
                {
                    "text": "an airline check-in counter"
                },
                {
                    "text": "post office counter staff"
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["Shopping"],
            "collocations": {
                "adjective": ["checkout", "post office", "shop"],
                "verb + counter": ["serve at", "serve behind", "work at"],
                "counter + noun": ["top", "staff"],
                "preposition": [
                    "across a/​the counter",
                    "at a/​the counter",
                    "behind a/​the counter"
                ]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 2,
            "definition": "a flat surface in a kitchen for preparing food on",
            "labels": "(both North American English)British English",
            "cefr": "b2",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "He put his bags down on the kitchen counter."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The kitchen had black marble counter tops."
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["Cooking and eating"],
            "collocations": {
                "adjective": ["checkout", "post office", "shop"],
                "verb + counter": ["serve at", "serve behind", "work at"],
                "counter + noun": ["top", "staff"],
                "preposition": [
                    "across a/​the counter",
                    "at a/​the counter",
                    "behind a/​the counter"
                ]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 3,
            "definition": "a small disc used for playing or scoring in some board games",
            "cefr": "c2",
            "examples": [],
            "topics": ["Games and toys"]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 4,
            "definition": "an electronic device for counting something",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "The needle on the rev counter soared."
                },
                {
                    "text": "You need to reset the counter."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 5,
            "definition": "a person who counts something, for example votes in an election",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "You can get computers to help the counters to count the votes."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 6,
            "definition": "a response to somebody/something that opposes their ideas, position, etc.",
            "sensetop": "counter (to somebody/something)",
            "labels": "(formal)",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "The employers' association was seen as a counter to union power."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The government's programme should be an effective counter to unemployment."
                },
                {
                    "text": "an effective counter to the blandness of modern culture"
                }
            ],
            "collocations": {
                "adjective": ["effective"],
                "preposition": ["counter to"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "goods, especially medicines, for sale over the counter can be bought without a prescription (= written permission from a doctor to buy a medicine) or special licence",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "These tablets are available over the counter."
                },
                {
                    "text": "This kind of medication cannot be bought over the counter."
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["Shopping", "Healthcare"]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "goods that are bought or sold under the counter are sold secretly and sometimes illegally",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "Pornography may be legally banned but it is still available under the counter."
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["Crime and punishment"]
        }
    ],
    "pronunciations": {
        "uk": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ˈkaʊntə(r)/",
                "audio": "co/counter/counter__gb_1.mp3"
            }
        ],
        "us": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ˈkaʊntər/",
                "audio": "co/counter/counter__us_1.mp3"
            }
        ]
    },
    "wordOrigin": "noun senses 1 to 4 Middle English (in sense (3)): from Old French conteor, from medieval Latin computatorium, from Latin computare ‘calculate’, from com- ‘together’ + putare ‘to settle (an account)’. noun sense 5 late Middle English: from Old French contre, from Latin contra ‘against’, or directly from counter-."
}