counterattack

nounB2+Occasional — familiar, but not everyday · #9,146 of 15,258leans written

Other forms: counterattacks

A counterattack is an attack made in reply to being attacked. Launch a counterattack, a swift counterattack, the counterattack failed.

The timing is everything: it works when the attacker is extended and disorganised, which is a principle in war and in football alike — counterattacking sides invite pressure in order to break at speed. Note that counter- here means in return, as in counter-argument and countersign.

Definitions of counterattack

1nouncounterattackAn attack made in reply to being attacked.B2+
“The enemy launched a fierce counterattack at dawn and took back the hill.”

counterattack is an attack.

Where it comes from

counter-attack comes from counter- + attack.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Military & Defence

Practise this word

counterattack in the wild

In order to perform a successful counterattack, the defending side must quickly and decisively strike the enemy after defending, with the objective of shocking and overwhelming the enemy.
Counterattack
The main concept of the counterattack is to catch the enemy by surprise.
Counterattack
The player who lacks the initiative may seek to regain it through counterattack.
Initiative (chess)
After a few hours of attacks the Somali troops seized Dhobley, resulting in a counterattack from Al Shabaab.
Battle of Lower Juba
Al Shabaab received reinforcements from Afmadow and Kismayo, but the counterattack failed.
Battle of Lower Juba

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

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