counter1
• noun 1 a long flat-topped fitment over which goods are sold or served or across which business is conducted with customers. 2 a small disc used in board games for keeping the score or as a place marker. 3 a token representing a coin. 4 a factor used to give one party an advantage in negotiations. 5 a person or thing that counts something. — PHRASES over the counter by ordinary retail purchase, with no need for a prescription or licence. under the counter (or table) (with reference to goods bought or sold) surreptitiously and illegally. — ORIGIN Old French conteor, from Latin computare ‘calculate’.
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