Definition of "compensate"

compensate

/ˈkɒm.pən.seɪt/

verb
third-person singular simple present compensates, present participle compensating, simple past and past participle compensated
1. To do (something good) after (something bad) happens
2. To pay or reward someone in exchange for work done or some other consideration.
3. (transitive, 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.
  Quotations
  The length of the night and the dews thereof do compensate the heat of the day.
  1631, Francis [Bacon], “(please specify |century=I to X)”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], 3rd edition, London: […] William Rawley; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […]
  The pleasures of life do not compensate the miseries.
  1718, Mat[thew] Prior, “Solomon on the Vanity of the World. A Poem in Three Books.”, in Poems on Several Occasions, London: […] Jacob Tonson […], and John Barber […], (please specify the page)
4. To adjust or adapt to a change, often a harm or deprivation.