Definition of "counteroffensive" [counteroffensive]

• A large-scale counterattack by an armed force, intended to stop an enemy offensive. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The White House counteroffensive is too little, too late."
• "Italy's interior minister, Roberto Maroni, called upon authorities in Greece to cooperate in what he called a counteroffensive to"
• "The counteroffensive is a special type of offensive that defending forces execute."