adjust

adjust 1 Adjust, regulate, fix share the meaning to set right or to rights.

Adjust implies modification to meet a need. To adjust a thing one brings it by some change into its exact or proper position or condition or into its right relationship with other things. One adjusts a telescope when one changes the distance between its eyepiece and its object glass so as to bring it into focus; one adjusts the temperature of a house when one changes the setting of a thermostat. Often adjust implies rectification or correction

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adjust an error in an account

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adjust a loose screw in a machine

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adjust spectacles that are not properly centered};}}

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frequently it suggests straightening out or settling

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adjust a difficulty with a neighbor

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adjust a claim for insurance

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Regulate, on the other hand, usually implies the maintenance of something in a desired condition. To regulate something (as a mechanism, a device, an organ) one uses or serves as the means of making it work or operate regularly, uniformly, or accurately; thus, one regulates a clock when one adjusts its mechanism so that it will keep accurate time

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some drugs regulate the beat of the heart by slowing it up, others by hastening it, until its rate of speed is normal

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One also regulates something that is produced or effected by a mechanism or a bodily organ when one uses the means to keep it at a fixed or uniform rate or degree

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regulate the temperature of the house by setting the thermostat at the desired mark and keeping it there

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Fix is an informal and imprecise equivalent to these words. It is often used where adjust or regulate would be more explicit and effective

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the optician will fix her glasses

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please fix the clock

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he will fix up matters for us

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In distinctive use it implies restoration to good order or a state of repair

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these shoes are not worth fixing

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fixed the leak in the roof

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Analogous words: rectify, *correct: trim, steady, *stabilize, balance: *order, arrange: align, *line, line up, range

Antonyms: derange

Contrasted words: disarrange, *disorder, disturb: upset, *discompose

2 *adapt, accommodate, conform, reconcile

Analogous words: *harmonize, attune: correspond, conform, accord, square (see AGREE)