- 1
To counteract something is to do another thing that has the opposite effect, so the first thing’s harm gets smaller or does not happen.
To counteract something抵消某件事 is是指 to do another thing that has the opposite effect做另一件有相反效果的事, so所以 the first thing's harm gets smaller or does not happen讓原本那件事的傷害變小、或根本不會發生。
A medicine can counteract a poison. A walk after a long day at a desk can counteract sitting still. A kind word can counteract a cruel one, at least a little.
A medicine藥物 can counteract a poison可以抵消毒藥的作用。A walk after a long day at a desk在辦公桌前坐了一整天後散個步 can counteract sitting still可以抵消久坐的影響。A kind word一句好話 can counteract a cruel one可以抵消一句殘忍的話, at least a little至少稍微如此。
Doctors, teachers, and careful writers like this verb. It does not mean you smash the first thing; it means you push the other way.
Doctors, teachers, and careful writers醫生、老師，還有講究用字的作家 like this verb都喜歡這個動詞。It它 does not mean you smash the first thing不是說你要把原本那件事打垮; it而是 means you push the other way說你朝反方向推一下。
Though actually, people also use it loosely for any “fight against,” even when the second action is not a true opposite, only a response. It is about effects, not about sentences: contradict is “say the opposite,” and that is a different word.
Though actually不過其實 people大家 also use it loosely for any "fight against,"也會鬆散地把它用在任何「對抗」的情境, even就算 when the second action is not a true opposite第二個動作並不是真正的相反, only a response只是一種回應，也會這樣說。It它 is about effects說的是效果, not不是 about sentences句子: contradict contradict is "say the opposite,"指的是「說相反的話」, and而 that is a different word是另一個不同的字。
原始詞典資料3 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
counteractnoun/ˈkaʊntəɹˌækt/
- 1
An action performed in opposition to another action.
- This flesh and blood of Christ's human body, as the redeeming substance, should have been eaten by man as an act of obedience to the command, 'Take, eat,' &c., as a counteract to the act of disobedience, and as a work meet for repentance.
- Every time there is a march by the Ku Klux Klan or a swastika painted on a Jewish building, there could be a counteract of reconciliation within twenty-four hours.
counteractverb/ˈkaʊntəɹˌækt/
- 1
To have a contrary or opposing effect or force on someone or something.
- Another tide is raised at the same time on the opposite side of the revolving earth; which is owing to the greater centrifugal motion of that side of the earth, which counteracts the gravitation of bodies near its surface.
- 1911, 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica - Dome In India, in the “great mosque” of Jama Masjid (a.d. 1560) and the Gol Gumbaz, or tomb of Mahommed Adil Shah (a.d. 1630) at Bijapur, the domes are carried on pendentives consisting of arches crossing one another and projecting inwards, and their weight counteracts any thrust there may be in the dome.
- 2
To deliberately act in opposition to, to thwart or frustrate.
- It took a long time for the place to warm up and to counteract the cold and enable their fingers to cope with the delicate task of moulding, the men would often surround themselves with blocks of iron heated in the furnace.
- 2016, Margaret Corvid writing in the New Statesman, Five practical things you can do to fight Donald Trump if you live in the UK When people hear my American accent, they want to talk to me about Donald Trump. They want to ask me what happened, and why. But most of all, they ask me – with fear filling their voices – what they can do, as individuals, to counteract him, here, from the United Kingdom.
資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。