adjustment
[uh-juhst-muh nt]
- the act of adjusting; adaptation to a particular condition, position, or purpose.
- the state of being adjusted; orderly relation of parts or elements.
- a device, as a knob or lever, for adjusting: the adjustments on a television set.
- the act of bringing something into conformity with external requirements: the adjustment of one's view of reality.
- harmony achieved by modification or change of a position: They worked out an adjustment of their conflicting ideas.
- Sociology. a process of modifying, adapting, or altering individual or collective patterns of behavior so as to bring them into conformity with other such patterns, as with those provided by a cultural environment.
- Insurance. the act of ascertaining the amount of indemnity that the party insured is entitled to receive under the policy, and of settling the claim.
- a settlement of a disputed account or claim.
- a change or concession, as in price or other terms, in view of minor defect or the like.
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Origin of adjustment
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
regulationarrangementreadjustmentmodificationalterationimprovementcompensationcompromiseorientationstandardizationfixingacclimationmendingfittingredressacclimatizationorganizationsettingconformanceturningExamples from the Web for adjustment
Contemporary Examples
Think of the embarrassing subway platform or mid-office “adjustment” debacles you could avoid!
What the hell would go to all the trouble—if he could make the “adjustment” in a “normal” way.
But it is ordinary people who are going to be hit hard by this and it is going to be a long and painful process of adjustment.
But that $450 billion adjustment is more than the GDP of most of the countries in the world.
As a result, most of the adjustment burden will be mostly borne by the city's workers, past and present.
Historical Examples
The adjustment is to be accomplished entirely by the poise of the body.
The ForestStewart Edward White
"The recorder here was out of adjustment, sir," he said simply.
Cap'n EriJoseph Crosby Lincoln
But it's not adjustment to me; so I'm afraid I shall have some intelligence in this matter.
The Book of the DamnedCharles Fort
Adjustment every moment demands the relation of the brain in both directions.
PsychotherapyHugo Mnsterberg
That adjustment is only perfect for light of one wave-length.
On Laboratory ArtsRichard Threlfall
adjustment
- the act of adjusting or state of being adjusted
- a control for regulatingthe adjustment for volume is beside the speaker
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for adjustment
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper