COMPENSATE

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does compensate mean? 

• COMPENSATE (verb)
  The verb COMPENSATE has 6 senses:

1. adjust for

2. make amends for; pay compensation for

3. make up for shortcomings or a feeling of inferiority by exaggerating good qualities

4. make reparations or amends for

5. do or give something to somebody in return

6. make payment to; compensate

  Familiarity information: COMPENSATE used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• COMPENSATE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they compensate    ... he / she / it compensates   
Past simple: compensated   
Past participle: compensated   
-ing form: compensating   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Adjust for

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

compensate; correct; counterbalance; even off; even out; even up; make up

Context example:

engineers will work to correct the effects or air resistance

Hypernyms (to "compensate" is one way to...):

balance; equilibrate; equilibrise; equilibrize (bring into balance or equilibrium)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "compensate"):

carry (compensate for a weaker partner or member by one's own performance)

compensate; cover; overcompensate (make up for shortcomings or a feeling of inferiority by exaggerating good qualities)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Derivation:

compensation (the act of compensating for service or loss or injury)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Make amends for; pay compensation for

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Synonyms:

compensate; indemnify; recompense; repair

Context example:

She was compensated for the loss of her arm in the accident

Hypernyms (to "compensate" is one way to...):

pay (give money, usually in exchange for goods or services)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "compensate"):

give (deliver in exchange or recompense)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something to somebody

Derivation:

compensation (the act of compensating for service or loss or injury)

compensation (something (such as money) given or received as payment or reparation (as for a service or loss or injury))

Sense 3

Meaning:

Make up for shortcomings or a feeling of inferiority by exaggerating good qualities

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

compensate; cover; overcompensate

Context example:

he is compensating for being a bad father

Hypernyms (to "compensate" is one way to...):

compensate; correct; counterbalance; even off; even out; even up; make up (adjust for)

Verb group:

cover; insure; underwrite (protect by insurance)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Derivation:

compensation ((psychiatry) a defense mechanism that conceals your undesirable shortcomings by exaggerating desirable behaviors)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Make reparations or amends for

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

compensate; correct; redress; right

Context example:

right a wrongs done to the victims of the Holocaust

Hypernyms (to "compensate" is one way to...):

alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "compensate"):

over-correct; overcompensate (make excessive corrections for fear of making an error)

aby; abye; atone; expiate (make amends for)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Also:

compensate (adjust for)

Derivation:

compensation (the act of compensating for service or loss or injury)

compensation (something (such as money) given or received as payment or reparation (as for a service or loss or injury))

Sense 5

Meaning:

Do or give something to somebody in return

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Synonyms:

compensate; make up; pay; pay off

Context example:

Does she pay you for the work you are doing?

Hypernyms (to "compensate" is one way to...):

settle (dispose of; make a financial settlement)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody PP

Derivation:

compensation (the act of compensating for service or loss or injury)

compensation (something (such as money) given or received as payment or reparation (as for a service or loss or injury))

Sense 6

Meaning:

Make payment to; compensate

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Synonyms:

compensate; recompense; remunerate

Context example:

My efforts were not remunerated

Hypernyms (to "compensate" is one way to...):

pay (give money, usually in exchange for goods or services)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "compensate"):

recoup; reimburse (reimburse or compensate (someone), as for a loss)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

compensation (the act of compensating for service or loss or injury)

compensation (something (such as money) given or received as payment or reparation (as for a service or loss or injury))

 Context examples 

The enzymatic activity of telomerase lengthens terminal regions of eukaryotic telomeric DNA by RNA-templated addition of repeated DNA sequences to compensate for sequence loss as the cells divide.

(Elongation by Telomerase, NCI Thesaurus)

A state of physiological or psychological stress that cannot be compensated for by normal adaptive measures.

(Distress, NCI Thesaurus)

Around the edge of the lake, the ice will flex upwards to compensate.

(Surface lakes cause Antarctic ice shelves to ‘flex’, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Methodology used to compensate a healthcare provider for care provided to a patient.

(Healthcare Payment Method, NCI Thesaurus)

A disease characterized by compensated hemolysis with a normal hemoglobin level or a mild to moderate anemia.

(Hemoglobin C Disease, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

My daily vows rose for revenge—a deep and deadly revenge, such as would alone compensate for the outrages and anguish I had endured.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

When in the brain, levodopa is decarboxylated to dopamine and stimulates the dopaminergic receptors, thereby compensating for the depleted supply of endogenous dopamine seen in Parkinson's disease.

(Levodopa, NCI Thesaurus)

Blocking TGF-beta in mouse models slowed NASH-driven liver scarring, but the number of eosinophils and amount of IL-13 produced in the liver increased to compensate for the lost TGF-beta function.

(NIH study sheds light on immune responses driving obesity-induced liver disease, National Institutes of Health)

Inhibition of acetylcholinesterase is also used therapeutically to treat Alzheimer's disease, compensating for the loss of cholinergic neurons.

(Attenuation of GPCR Signaling Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

Evidence suggests it actually takes about a 50% drop before the brain can no longer compensate and cognitive effects are seen.

(Pathogenic tau and cognitive impairment are precipitated by a high-salt diet, National Institutes of Health)