Compensate definition

kŏmpən-sāt
compensated compensates compensating
See word origin
Frequency:
To offset; counterbalance.
verb
12
3
To serve to balance or offset something.

An altered swing that compensates for the wind.

verb
3
0
To make satisfactory payment or reparation to; recompense or reimburse.

Management compensated us for the time we worked.

verb
2
1
To compensate is to pay someone for services performed, to repay someone for some wrong or that something positive exists to make up for something negative.

An example of compensate is when you pay the guy who mowed your lawn.

An example of compensate is when you make your wife angry and you compensate for your bad behavior by doing something very nice.

An example of compensate is when you injure someone in a car accident and you pay their medical bills.

An example of compensate is beautiful scenery on high priced lots.

verb
1
1
(now rare) To make up for; be a counterbalance to in weight, force, etc.
verb
1
1
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To make equivalent or suitable return to; recompense; pay.

To compensate an owner for land taken by a city.

verb
1
1
(psychol.) To engage in compensation.
verb
1
1
To make an adjustment, or otherwise act, so as to balance or offset something.

A golfer compensating for the wind by altering her swing.

verb
1
1
To pay or reward someone in exchange for work done or some other consideration.

It is hard work, but they will compensate you well for it.

verb
1
1
(intransitive) To make up for; to do something in place of something else; to correct, satisfy; to reach an agreement such that the scales are literally or (metaphorically) balanced; to equalize or make even.

His loud voice cannot compensate for a lack of personality.

To compensate me for his tree landing on my shed, my neighbor paved my driveway.

verb
1
1
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To adjust or adapt to a change, often a harm or deprivation.

I don't like driving that old car because it always steers a little to the left so I'm forever compensating for that when I drive it. Trust me, it gets annoying real fast.

To compensate for his broken leg, Gary uses crutches.

verb
0
0
To serve as or provide a substitute or counterbalance.
verb
1
2
To stabilize the purchasing power of (a monetary unit) by changing the gold content in order to counterbalance price variations.
verb
0
1
(mech.) To counteract or make allowance for (a variation)
verb
0
1
To make or serve as compensation or amends (for)
verb
0
1
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Origin of compensate

  • Latin compēnsāre compēnsāt- com- com- pēnsāre to weigh (s)pen- in Indo-European roots

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • From Latin compensatus, past participle of compensare (“to weight together one thing against another, balance, make good, later also shorten, spare”), from com- (“together”) + pensare (“to weight”).

    From Wiktionary

Compensate Sentence Examples

  • These advantages compensate for the greater first cost.

  • Water-power and petrol largely compensate for the lack of coal.

  • He might thus compensate for his numerical inferiority by superior mobility and superior leadership.

  • They might make you feel bad about yourself to compensate for how they feel inside.

  • A further saving of juice was sometimes possible if the market prices of sugar were such as to compensate for the cost of evaporating an increased quantity of added water, but a limit was imposed by the fact that water might be used in excess.

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Related articles

Words near compensate in the Dictionary