council estate
314
council have told us to cut down the trees. I We discussed this
matter in council. (-at a council meeting) I Council meetings
are held in the council chamber. I She's on the council. (=is an
elected member of it) I She works for the council. (=is a paid
employee of the council)
USAGE The British use council to refer to their local
government authority. It is less common in the US, where
the system of local government varies from state to state,
and Americans must usually be more specific and say for
example city council, town council, county council.
'council es,tate n BrE a piece of land on which houses have
been built by the local council. They are rented to people for
a small amount of money → ➜ see also COUNCIL HOUSE
Council for the Pro,tection of, Rural 'England,
the the full name of the CPRE
'council house n (in Britain) a house or flat (council flat)
owned by the local town or COUNTY council, for which the
family living in it pays rent: As an unmarried mother, you
will be near the top of the list for a council house.
CULTURAL NOTE Council houses are usually fairly small
plain houses on ESTATES (=a large area with many houses
built close together). They are cheap to rent and are
usually lived in by WORKING-CLASS people. But since the
1980s, people have been able to buy their houses from
the council, so there are now fewer houses owned by
local councils.
coun-cil-lor BrE || councilor AmE /'kaʊnsələr/ n a member
of a council: You should complain to your local councillor.
coun-cil-man /'kaʊnsəlmen/, coun-cil-wo-man
/-wumən/ fem. -n pl. -men /men/ AmE a member of a council
Council of 'Europe, the an organization which was
established in 1949 to develop greater unity between the
countries of Europe, and to encourage DEMOCRATIC govern-
ment and respect for human rights. It now consists of about
40 European countries, and its members develop policies on
education, crime, health, and the environment. Complaints
about cruel or unfair treatment can be settled in the Coun-
cil's court, the European Court of Human Rights. Although
it has close connections with the EUROPEAN UNION, it is a
separate organization.
council of 'war n a discussion about how to meet danger,
opposition, a problem etc or to plan some joint action: The
bosses are having a council of war right now to try to avoid
total collapse.
'council, tax n a British local government tax related to the
value of people's houses. It replaced the very unpopular POLL
TAX in 1993.
coun-sel¹ /'kaunsəl/ n pl. counsel 1 [C] law a lawyer (in
Britain a BARRISTER) acting for someone in a court of law: The
judge asked counsel for the defence to explain. I Both parties
were represented by counsel. (=both people had law-
yers) 2 [U] fml or lit advice: The king took counsel from the
assembled nobles. 3 keep one's own counsel to keep your
plans, opinions, or intentions secret
counsel² v -ll- BrE l -l- AmE [T] 1 fml to advise as a suitable
course of action: They counselled patience/caution. I
[+obj+to-v] She counselled them not to accept his explana-
tion. 2 to give advice and support to (especially someone
experiencing difficulty): The unit was set up to counsel people
with alcohol problems. I a counselling service for new students
coun-sel-ing BrE counseling AmE /'kaunsəlın/ n [U] the
act of listening to people and giving them support with
their problems, especially as your job: She's been undergoing
counseling for depression.
coun-sel-lor BrE || counselor AmE /'kaunsələr/ n 1 some-
one who is paid to listen to people's problems and provide
support and advice: Have you thought of seeing a counsellor?
➜ see also MARRIAGE GUIDANCE COUNSELLOR 2 especially AmE
a lawyer
count¹ /kaunt/ v 1 (1([UP, to)] to say or name the numbers in
order, one by one or by groups: children learning to count I
Count (up) to twenty and then open your eyes. 2 [T] to name
or take note of (all the units belonging to a group) one by
one in order to find the whole number in the group; total:
Have you counted the money yet? I We counted the passengers
and found that two were missing. I [+wh-] The machine auto-
matically counts how many people have used it. 3 [T] to
include when finding a total: There are six people in my
family, counting my parents. 4 [T+obj+N/adj/prep] to consider or
regard in the stated way: After the accident they counted
themselves lucky to be alive. I Pavlova is counted among the
greatest dancers of the century. 5 [I not in progressive forms] to
have value, force, influence, or importance: It is not what
you say but what you do that counts. | She's the only person
that really counts around here. (=the only important person) I
For tax purposes this counts as (=is officially regarded as)
unearned income. I In business, a strong personality often
counts for more (=is more valuable or important) than formal
training. | That goal doesn't count, the player was out of
bounds. | In light of your actions, your words count for
nothing. (=have no value at all) 6 ...but who's counting?
(used to say that the number of something received or
achieved does not matter to you, although this suggests that
it really does): 'He scored seven goals.' 'Eight, actually, but
who's counting?' I 'That's all of them then - about 30 each.'
'32, I made it, but then who's counting?' 7 count one's
chickens before they're hatched to make plans depending on
something advantageous which has not yet hap-
pened 8 count sheep to imagine you are counting sheep,
with the eyes closed. British people are advised to count
sheep as a way of falling asleep. 9 count the cost a)
to understand or suffer the bad effects of something done b)
to consider all risks before making a decision or doing
something
count down phr v [I] to count backwards in seconds to
zero, especially before sending a spacecraft into space ➜ see
also COUNTDOWN
count sbdy. in phr v [T] infml to include, especially in a
planned activity: If you're planning a trip to London, count
me in. opposite COUNT OUT
count on/upon sbdy./sthg. phr [T] 1 to depend on: You
can count on me; I'll help you. I She can always be counted on
for support. [+v-ing] We're counting on winning this
contract. [+obj+v-ing] You can't count on the weather being
fine. I [+obj+to-v] | You can count on him to come. 2 to expect;
take into account: [+obj+v-ing] I didn't count on arriving so
early/on John arriving so early.
count sbdy./sthg. out phr v [T] 1 to put down one by
one while counting: He counted out ten £5 notes. 2 to declare
(a BOXER who fails to get up from the floor after ten seconds)
to be the loser of a fight: Tyson was counted out in the tenth
round. 3 infml to decide not to include; EXCLUDE: If you're
playing football in this weather you can count me out.
opposite COUNT IN
count² n 1 an act of counting or total reached by counting:
The vote was so close that we had to have several counts. | The
number of students was 523 at the last count. 2 any of a
number of crimes of which a person is thought to be guilty:
The prisoner was found not guilty on all counts. I (fig.) This
policy has failed on several counts. (=in several different
ways) 3 keep/lose count to know/fail to know the exact
number: I've lost count of how many times I've seen this
programme. (=because I've seen it so often) 4 out for the
count (in BOXING) to be unconscious for a period of ten
counted seconds: (fig.) Don't try to wake George he's out for
the count. (=fast asleep)
count³ n (often cap.) a European nobleman with a rank similar
to that of a British EARL compare COUNTESS
count-a-ble /'kaʊntəbəl/ adj that can be counted: A count-
able noun can also be called a count noun and is often
marked [C] in this dictionary. ➜ opposite UNCOUNTABLE
Count Basies → see BASIE, COUNT
count-down /'kaʊntdaun/ n an act of counting backwards,
in seconds to zero: a ten-second countdown before the space-
craft takes off ➜ see also COUNT DOWN
coun-te-nance¹ /'kaʊntɪnəns/ n fml 1 [C] the appearance
or expression of a person's face: a fierce/angry counte-
nance 2 [U] support or approval: Terrorists will get no
countenance here.
countenance² v [T] fml to give support or approval to; regard
as acceptable; SANCTION: We have said several times that we
will never countenance violence. I [+v-ing] The government will
not countenance giving in to blackmail.