counterweight

English

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *ḱe ?

Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm

Proto-Italic *kom

Proto-Italic *kom-

Proto-Indo-European *-teros

Proto-Italic *-teros

Proto-Italic *komteros der.

Proto-Italic *komterād

Latin contrā der.

Old French contre-

Anglo-Norman countre- bor.

Middle English counter-

English counter-

English weight

English counterweight

counterweight (plural counterweights )

A heavy mass of often iron or concrete, mechanically linked in opposition to a load which is to be raised and lowered, with the intent of reducing the amount of work which must be done to effect the raising and lowering. Counterweights are used, for example, in cable-hauled elevators and some kinds of movable bridges (e.g. a bascule bridge).
- 1960 May, "Talking of Trains: The new Kingsferry Bridge", in Trains Illustrated, page 265:
  Four 110-ton counterweights, one in each tower, make this feat possible by reducing the effective weight to be lifted to some 25 tons; but an additional 20 tons (a very heavy snow load) can be lifted if necessary.
- 2025 October 19, "A Tower on Billionaires’ Row Is Full of Cracks. Who’s to Blame?", in The New York Times ‎^[1], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:
  Like other supertall towers, 432 Park relies on the counterweight system to address the forces of wind and reduce the feeling of swaying for residents.
  (Can we archive this URL?)
(figurative ) A counterbalance.
Synonym: balance
- 2017 March 28, Alan Johnson, "Why Brexit Is Best for Britain: The Left-Wing Case", in The New York Times ‎^[2]:
  A counterweight to the anti-immigrant fear mongering of the former leader of the right-wing U.K. Independence Party, Nigel Farage, Lexiteers^{[sic ]} argued a left-wing, democratic and internationalist case for Brexit.

heavy mass reducing the amount of work which must be done to effect the raising and lowering of something

counterbalance — see also counterbalance

counterweight (third-person singular simple present counterweights , present participle counterweighting , simple past and past participle counterweighted )

(transitive ) To fit with a counterweight.
- 1960 June, "New Lifting Bridge at Kings Ferry", in Railway Magazine, page 388:
  The lifting span, which rises vertically between the towers, weighs 465 tons and is counterweighted by four 110-ton weights.
- 2018, Maggie Harcourt, Theatrical:
  Everything on the grid – all the backdrops and curtains, anything that has to move up and down from the fly-tower – has to be counterweighted.