under the counter adjective 2adverb 1forms 2 adjective2 •Illicit, obtained or sold furtively.The village shop seemed to be a bastion of respectability but those in the know could obtain some very questionable under-the-counter material. •(UK, informal) 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. — 2003 adverb1 •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).Oh, yeah, I remember, you mean about me not trying to sell from under the counter? — 1969 formsmore under the counter · most under the counter
