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- run counter to
run counter to
run counter to something
to be in opposition to something; to run against something. (This has nothing to do with running.) Your proposal runs counter to what is required by the manager. His idea runs counter to good sense.
run counter to something
to be the opposite of something The article presents facts that run counter to what many of us believed had happened.
run counter to
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."