COUNTERSIGN • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Countersign

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verb

Countersign v. t. (past & past part. countersigned; pres. part. countersigning) To sign on the opposite side of (an instrument or writing); hence, to sign in addition to the signature of a principal or superior, in order to attest the authenticity of a writing.

adjective

Countersign adj.

The signature of a secretary or other officer to a writing signed by a principal or superior, to attest its authenticity.

(Mil.) A private signal, word, or phrase, which must be given in order to pass a sentry; a watchword.

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Etymology of 'Countersign'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Countersign" Quotes from Famous Books

... down Prospect Hill past General Hastings' quarters even to the river. The patrol across the river is keeping sharp vigilance in town. At the eastern end of the Pennsylvania Railroad's stone bridge you must stop and give the countersign. If you don't no man can ...

— The Johnstown Horror • James Herbert Walker

... gun and knapsack, dropping asleep in our tracks; Others pitching the little tents, and the fires lit up begin to sparkle; Outposts of pickets posted, surrounding, alert through the dark, And a word provided for countersign, careful for safety; Till to the call of the drummers at daybreak loudly beating the drums, We rise up refreshed, the night and sleep passed over, and resume our journey, ...

— Poems By Walt Whitman • Walt Whitman

... jungles resounded here and there the shrill and, at the same time, mockingly mirthful laugh of the hyenas, which in that gory region found far too many corpses. From time to time the detachment conducting the caravan encountered other patrols and exchanged with them the agreed countersign. They came to the hills on the river banks and through a long pass reached the Nile. The people and the camels embarked upon wide and flat "dahabeahs," and soon the heavy oars began with measured movements to break and ruffle ...

— In Desert and Wilderness • Henryk Sienkiewicz

... a swaggering attitude had been assumed, and a knowing wink, the countersign for 'Now I'm going to do something for your amusement,' had been bestowed on his pals. The speaker, a rough man with a beard and a fez cap, became the prominent figure of a group loitering before a square hole with an earthward ...

— A Mummer's Wife • George Moore

... escheated to the crown were under his administration; he was entitled to a place in council, even though he were not particularly summoned; and as he exercised also the office of secretary of state, and it belonged to him to countersign all commissions, writs, and letters patent, he was a kind of prime minister, and was concerned in the despatch of every business of importance [s]. Besides exercising this high office, Becket, by the favour of the king or archbishop, ...

— The History of England, Volume I • David Hume

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