Naut. [COUNTER- 1.] To brace the head-yards one way, and the after-yards another, so that the sails counteract each other.
1867. Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., 216. Counter-bracing becomes necessary to render the vessel stationary when sounding, lowering a boat, or speaking a stranger. It is now an obsolete term, and the manœuvre is called heaving-to.
