To counterbalance something is to have an equal and opposite effect on it, so the two sit more even. Picture an old pair of scales: if one side is heavy, you put weight on the other side. Extra savings can counterbalance extra spending. A joy can counterbalance a fear. As a noun, a counterbalance is that other weight, or that other force — sometimes a real metal weight on a machine, sometimes a person or a rule that keeps power from leaning too far one way. Used about feelings, money, power, and real weights. A little more formal than “make up for.” Though actually, life is rarely that even. People still use the word when the second thing only partly makes up for the first; the tidy “equal” is the dictionary’s hope more than everyday fact. Verb and noun.