MEANING
To oppose or balance something with a force or effect acting against it.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- countervail a tendency
- countervailing pressure
On the page
The subsidy countervailed the rise in transport costs.
A second pressure countervailed the incentive to expand.
Nearby words
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- countervail
- Past tense
- countervailed
- Past participle
- countervailed
- Present participle
- countervailing
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- countervail
- Present continuous
- am/is/are countervailing
- Present perfect
- have/has countervailed
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been countervailing
- Past
- countervailed
- Past continuous
- was/were countervailing
- Past perfect
- had countervailed
- Past perfect continuous
- had been countervailing
- Future
- will countervail
- Future continuous
- will be countervailing
- Future perfect
- will have countervailed
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been countervailing
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
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Usage notes
Primary category: academic / formal. Forms: countervail; countervails; countervailed; countervailed; countervailing Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Third-person singular: countervails.
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