countersuit

noun

coun·​ter·​suit ˈkau̇n-tər-ˌsüt How to pronounce countersuit (audio)
variants or less commonly counter-suit
plural countersuits also counter-suits
: an opposing lawsuit
especially : a claim asserted by an opposing party in a lawsuit (such as a defendant) against the party bringing the original lawsuit (such as a plaintiff) : counterclaim
decided to file a countersuit against her accuser
The current appeal results from a patent infringement suit and countersuit between Apple Inc. ("Apple") and Samsung Electronics Co … Apple, Inc. v. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., 816 F. 3d 788 (2016)

Examples of countersuit in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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Baldoni fired back with a countersuit against Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, last week. Wesley Stenzel, EW.com, 23 Jan. 2025 Graves filed a federal lawsuit in New York claiming she was raped by Combs and his former bodyguard in 2001, an allegation later disputed by the bodyguard, Joseph Sherman, in a November countersuit. Mary Whitfill Roeloffs, Forbes, 22 Jan. 2025 Advertisement Without specifying a timeline for filing the countersuit, Freedman confirmed the plans to Deadline on Saturday. Meredith Blake, Los Angeles Times, 30 Dec. 2024 Baldoni filed a countersuit against Lively, her husband, Ryan Reynolds, their publicist Leslie Sloane and Sloane's PR firm Vision PR, Inc for $400 million on Jan. 16. Daniel S. Levine, People.com, 5 Feb. 2025 See All Example Sentences for countersuit

Word History

First Known Use

1814, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of countersuit was in 1814

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Cite this Entry

“Countersuit.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/countersuit. Accessed 27 Feb. 2025.

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