count against

count against idiom
Be disadvantageous to, as in His earnings this year will count against his Social Security benefits. This idiom uses count in the sense of “make a reckoning,” in this case negative. [Early 1900s]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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