as in complaint
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 counterclaim
Amid the claims and counterclaims about negotiations to end the war, tensions between Moscow and NATO are likely to increase, especially if the alliance's European members bear more of the brunt of support for Ukraine.
—
Gord Magill, Newsweek, 21 Dec. 2024
Each day brings a new round of claims and counterclaims, a confusing collision of the actual, the improbable, and the outright ridiculous.
—Glenn Adamson, ARTnews.com, 16 Dec. 2024
Cheekwood, in its counterclaim against the Swan Ball Initiative filed July 30, claims the gala is inseparable from Cheekwood itself.
—Evan Mealins, The Tennessean, 20 Aug. 2024
Lawyers for Hutton on Monday informed the court of the deal, which resolves claims from the actor and counterclaims from Electric.
—Winston Cho, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for counterclaim 
Gord Magill, Newsweek, 21 Dec. 2024
Each day brings a new round of claims and counterclaims, a confusing collision of the actual, the improbable, and the outright ridiculous.
—Glenn Adamson, ARTnews.com, 16 Dec. 2024
Cheekwood, in its counterclaim against the Swan Ball Initiative filed July 30, claims the gala is inseparable from Cheekwood itself.
—Evan Mealins, The Tennessean, 20 Aug. 2024
Lawyers for Hutton on Monday informed the court of the deal, which resolves claims from the actor and counterclaims from Electric.
—Winston Cho, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for counterclaim
Recent Examples of Synonyms for counterclaim
Noun
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Attorneys for the owner said in a statement that the owner and the DOJ reached the agreement, which was reached immediately after the complaint was filed, to avoid prolonged litigation.—
Landon Mion,
Fox News,
18 Jan. 2025
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At first, the school board reacted to the complaints by saying parents could have their children excused from the class when the new textbooks were being used or discussed.—
David G. Savage,
Los Angeles Times,
18 Jan. 2025
Noun
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In his recent lawsuit against the Gossip Girl actress, Justin Baldoni accuses Blake Lively of allegedly making derogatory comments about his nose.—
Caroline Bell,
StyleCaster,
23 Jan. 2025
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This comes seven months after the Supreme Court overturned a prior deal with Purdue that would have given the Sackler family immunity from future opioid lawsuits, a provision that is not part of the new deal.—
Katrina Kaufman,
CBS News,
23 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Does the hiring of Kessler mean litigation is certain?—
Michael McCann,
Sportico.com,
25 Jan. 2025
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These closing arguments were the culmination of six years of litigation on the key question in the 9/11 case: Does torture matter in the pursuit of justice in the military commissions?—
Lisa Hajjar,
The Conversation,
24 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Block and Schaefer then responded with a July countersuit.—
John Wenzel,
The Denver Post,
24 Sep. 2024
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Two years ago, Jolie filed a countersuit over a dispute about the sale of her half of the pair’s winery that detailed an altercation in 2016 including Pitt being physically aggressive to both Jolie and their children.—
Max Goldbart,
Deadline,
31 Dec. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near counterclaim
Cite this Entry
“Counterclaim.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/counterclaim. Accessed 31 Jan. 2025.
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