correction

American  

[kuh-rek-shuhn] / kəˈrɛk ʃən /

noun

corrections plural

1. something that is substituted or proposed for what is wrong or inaccurate; emendation.

2. the act of correcting.

3. punishment intended to reform, improve, or rehabilitate; chastisement; reproof.

4. Usually corrections. the various methods, as incarceration, parole, and probation, by which society deals with convicted offenders.

5. a quantity applied or other adjustment made in order to increase accuracy, as in the use of an instrument or the solution of a problem.

   A five degree correction will put the ship on course.

6. a reversal of the trend of stock prices, especially temporarily, as after a sharp advance or decline in the previous trading sessions.

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correction British  

/ kəˈrɛkʃən /

noun

1. the act or process of correcting

2. something offered or substituted for an error; an improvement

3. the act or process of punishing; reproof

4. a number or quantity added to or subtracted from a scientific or mathematical calculation or observation to increase its accuracy

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Usage

What is a correction? A correction is something substituted for something that is wrong or inaccurate, such as when a newspaper issues a correction to a story it got wrong. A correction is also an adjustment or addition to something to make it more accurate, as when you make a steering correction while driving to ensure you are in the center of your lane. A correction is also a punishment that is meant to help you reform or improve. This is the type of correction connected with prisons, also called correctional facilities. Example: We are applying a correction to the story after it came out that one of the sources was lying.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• noncorrection
  noun
• precorrection
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• corrections
  plural

Etymology

Origin of correction

1300–50; Middle English correccio ( u ) n (< Anglo-French ) < Latin corrēctiōn- (stem of corrēctiō ) a setting straight. See correct, -ion

Explanation

When you fix a mistake, you make a correction, a change that rights a wrong. When you correct a misspelled word, you’ve made a correction. Well done! Correction also applies to punishment, which is another way to right a wrong. A correction is an improvement or a revision when there's something that needs to be fixed. Newspapers issue corrections for previously printed errors, and a poorly written law might get the correction it needs after voters choose to amend it. Sometimes correction is also used to mean "punishment or discipline," and a correction or correctional facility is another word for jail. Correction can also mean "a drop in the value of a stock that was artificially high."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

correction corrections

EssilorLuxottica has also branched into hearing correction, with its Nuance Audio integrating hearing aids into eyeglasses frames.

From Barron's ● Jul. 28, 2026

Piper Sandler’s Johnson sees this action warning of “a potential correction pullback occurring this summer.”

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 26, 2026

However, a global artificial-intelligence stock rally and recent stock purchases by Chinese state investors to prop up the market could limit a potential correction, they add.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026

But he said the industry will likely experience a correction.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026

The same dynamic, I realized, was at work for correction officers.

From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover

That meant he was making corrections to the steering that Antonelli did not have to do.

From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026

Born Halroy Candis Williams on Dec. 14, 1938, in Columbus, Ohio, Williams was working as a juvenile corrections officer when he decided to pursue his dreams of becoming an actor.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 16, 2026

Global stock prices remain elevated despite recent corrections.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 9, 2026

That’s even in the face of corrections for virtually every name in the Magnificent Seven cohort over the past month.

From Barron's ● Jun. 29, 2026

His father checked the margin of the page for the textual corrections of Rabbi Elijah—the same Rabbi Elijah who had persecuted Hasidim!—and showed Danny that he had been quoting from the corrected text.

From "The Chosen" by Chaim Potok