- to make amends to (someone), esp for loss or injury
- (transitive) to serve as compensation or damages for (injury, loss, etc)
- to offset or counterbalance the effects of (a force, weight, movement, etc) so as to nullify the effects of an undesirable influence and produce equilibrium
- (intransitive) to attempt to conceal or offset one's shortcomings by the exaggerated exhibition of qualities regarded as desirable
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
com•pen•sate /ˈkɑmpənˌseɪt/USA pronunciation
v., -sat•ed, -sat•ing.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- to pay (someone) for something lost, damaged, or missing so as to replace it; give (someone) an equivalent: [~ + object + for + object]Let me compensate you for your trouble.[~ + for + object]Your apologies will not compensate for this damage.
- to make up for;
offset;
counterbalance: [~ + object]He compensated his homeliness with charm.[~ + for + object]The good acting in the play compensated for its horrible musical score. - Mechanics to counterbalance a force, as by adjusting a mechanism:[~ (+ for + object)]With every step he had to compensate for the weight he was carrying on his right side.
com•pen•sate
(kom′pən sāt′),USA pronunciation v., -sat•ed, -sat•ing.
v.t.
v.i.
com′pen•sat′ing•ly, adv.
com′pen•sa′tor, n.
v.t.
- to recompense for something:They gave him ten dollars to compensate him for his trouble.
- to counterbalance;
offset;
be equivalent to:He compensated his homely appearance with great personal charm. - Mechanicsto counterbalance (a force or the like);
adjust or construct so as to offset or counterbalance variations or produce equilibrium. - to change the gold content of (a monetary unit) to counterbalance price fluctuations and thereby stabilize its purchasing power.
v.i.
- to provide or be an equivalent;
make up;
make amends (usually fol. by for):His occasional courtesies did not compensate for his general rudeness. - Psychologyto develop or employ mechanisms of compensation.
- Latin compēnsātus (past participle of compēnsāre to counterbalance, origin, originally, to weigh together). See com-, pensive, -ate1
- 1640–50
com′pen•sa′tor, n.
- 1. remunerate, reward, pay. 2. counterpoise, countervail. 5. atone.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
compensate /ˈkɒmpɛnˌseɪt/ vb
'compensate' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
allowance
- conscience money
- countervail
- crab
- danger money
- extra time
- homeostasis
- indemnify
- injury time
- IRS
- loading
- make-up
- offset
- recompense
- recoup
- redeeming
- reimburse
- right
- tare
- thermistor
- threshold
- time
- TPI
- weighting
- windage
- amends
- bissextus
- bombsight
- borrow
- bulimarexia
- cancel
- compass deviation card
- compensating balance
- compensation
- compensatory
- contraction joint
- cover
- crabbing
- decompensation
- Flinders bar
- glass
- indexation
- J-stroke
- major medical
- make
- overcompensate
- preen
- push
- remunerate
- repair