The Collaborative International Dictionary
Countermand \Coun`ter*mand"\ (koun`t[~e]r*m[.a]nd"), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Countermanded; p. pr. & vb. n. Countermanding.] [F. contremander; contre (L. contra) + mander to command, fr. L. mandare. Cf. Mandate.]
To revoke (a former command); to cancel or rescind by giving an order contrary to one previously given; as, to countermand an order for goods.
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To prohibit; to forbid. [Obs.]
Avicen countermands letting blood in choleric bodies.
--Harvey. -
To oppose; to revoke the command of.
For us to alter anything, is to lift ourselves against God; and, as it were, to countermand him.
--Hooker.
Wiktionary
vb. (present participle of countermand English)
Usage examples of "countermanding".
Welles had sent a message only the other day to the Brooklyn yard, where the Monitor was being rushed to complete its trials, countermanding the order to hurry down to Hampton Bays and ordering her instead to the Potomac for the defense of Washington, which the President always considered paramount.
Bates said, "you approved of the President's message countermanding the emancipation order of General Hunter.
If Butler moved warily, in a way that did not directly challenge the President's authority, he could count on Chase to keep Lincoln from countermanding any Gulf states order.
If Colonel I was countermanding orders then it gave him the opportunity to break the man - to demote him and humiliate him.
The British—well, they ignored my countermanding of their declaration of war, but I don't think they have been directly subverted.