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run counter to

run counter to idiom

Be in conflict with, oppose, as in Practice often runs counter to theory. This idiom, first recorded in 1843, uses counter in the sense of “in an opposite direction.”

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.