under the counter
English
AI In plain words
Writing a short explanation…
Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
under the counter
adverb more under the counter · most under the counter · under-the-counter
- Illicitly, against regulations, of goods kept under the serving counter in a shop to be unobtrusively passed to a customer who knows they are available for surreptitious sale (e.g. pornographic magazines in a newsagent). 1969 The Seven Minutes: A Novel - Page 157 by Irving Wallace Oh, yeah, I remember, you mean about me not trying to sell from under the counter?
adjective more under the counter · most under the counter · under-the-counter
- In an underhand way, sneakily; unofficially, particularly with regard to payment or tax avoidance. This morning he said he could not remember exactly where or how the invoice was written. It was used to cover up an under the counter payment from the sale of his land in Lucan.
Translations
Every language
adv illicitly
| 中文 | 非法地 fēifǎ de |
|---|---|
| Français | sous le comptoir, sous le manteau |
| Deutsch | unter dem Ladentisch |
| Italiano | sottobanco, illecitamente, fraudolento, subdolamente |
| Русский | и́з-под полы́ íz-pod polý |
adj unofficially
| 中文 | 私下的 sīxià de |
|---|---|
| Italiano | illecito, fraudolento, irregolare |
Talk about this word "under the counter." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/under%20the%20counter. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. under the counter. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/under%20the%20counter "under the counter." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/under%20the%20counter.Cite this
@misc{under_the_counter_2026,
title = {under the counter},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/under%20the%20counter},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
