compensate

compensate vb 1 Compensate, countervail, balance, offset, counterbalance, counterpoise are comparable when meaning to make up for or to undo the effects of.

Compensate is by far the broadest of these terms both in mode of use and scope of application. It may be used transitively and especially passively with either the one to be made up to or the thing to be made up for as object, or it may be used intransitively. In either case it is commonly modified by a phrase governed by for denoting a cause, by with specifying an equivalent, or by by indicating an action. It is freely applicable to the purely physical

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compensate a pendulum for the effects of temperature change

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a weakened heart compensated by muscular hypertrophy

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to the economic (see also PAY)

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compensate a wounded soldier with a pension

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the Assembly put through this Bill, for compensating persons who had suffered losses through the Rebellion of 1837— Sandwell

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or to the immaterial

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an air of dignity and distinction compensated the deficiencies of beauty— Bromfield

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dreams, drives, and yearnings . . . which may be pleasant or unpleasant in themselves but which at all events console and compensate— Bentley

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compensate for his feelings of loneliness by assertions of superiority— Auden

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One thing countervails another, or against another, when the former is sufficiently strong, powerful, or efficient to counteract the influence exerted or the harm or damage done by the latter or suffered in consequence of it

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so shall my credit countervail your shame— Browning

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the absence of fuss . . . countervailed any tendency to self-importance—5. T. Warner

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the fact . . . shall, in the absence of strong countervailing testimony, be deemed conclusive evidence— Lincoln

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One thing balances another, or two things balance (or balance each other) when both are so adjusted that they are either equal or properly proportioned (as in numbers, quantity, size, importance, or effectiveness) and the combination is harmonious because neither one outweighs the other or can exert a harmful influence on the whole

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in sentencing prisoners, the judge balanced justice and mercy

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in the healthy human body the salt intake and the salt loss through excretion balance

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the general tendency to the degradation or dissipation of energy is balanced ... by a building-up process in the cell and in the organism— Inge

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that, like a ground in painting, balances all hues and forms, combining with one tone whatever lights or shades are on it thrown— Bridges

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the pressures of business, labor, and farmers . . . manage to check and balance each other— Ascoli

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One thing offsets another (this and the following terms have no intransitive use) when the former, as the exact opposite of the latter and its equal (as in importance, in effectiveness, in power, or in numbers), neutralizes the latter's good or evil effect, gain or loss, or benefit or harm

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his loss of thousands of votes from his own party was offset by his gain in independent votes

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the disadvantages of the plan are sufficient to offset its clear advantages

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the benefits of favorable climatic environment are oftentimes more than offset by the inconveniences of travel,, loneliness, and homesickness— Heiser

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it is difficult to see any need for it that offsets in the slightest all the trouble it may cause— Chafee

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One thing counterbalances another when the former serves or is intended to serve to offset some quality (as an excess, a deficiency, or an evil) in the latter

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in his second book, there has to be rather more about religion to counterbalance the detailed, joyless descriptions of the heroine's sex life— Punch

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or when the former acts as a corrective of any tendency in the latter to loss of equilibrium or proper balance, especially when it, or one of its parts, is subjected to undue pressure, strain, or tension

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a heavy weight suspended on a cable which is attached to an elevator and passes over a pulley at the top of the shaft serves to counterbalance the increased load when the elevator carries passengers or freight

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mine hoists are often operated by the counterbalancing of an ascending and a descending car

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One thing counterpoises another when the former provides the equivalent of the latter in weight or value (physical, spiritual, artistic) and insures the balance of the whole

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like scales, in which the weight on one side must be counterpoised by a weight in the other— Jefferies

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the new tower is a little wanting in repose for a tower whose business is to counterpoise the very classic lines of the old one— Henry Adams

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Analogous words: counteract, *neutralize, negative: *nullify, negate, annul, abrogate, invalidate: complement, supplement (see under COMPLEMENT n): correspond, square, tally, jibe, *agree

2 remunerate, *pay, recompense, repay, reimburse, satisfy, indemnify