recalibrate
Americanverb (used with or without object)
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to correct or adjust the gradations or settings on (a measuring instrument, sensor, or other piece of precision equipment).
If your battery fuel gauge is still inaccurate after following these steps, you may need to manually recalibrate the gauge.
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to reexamine (one’s thinking, a plan, a system of values, etc.) and correct it in accord with a new understanding or purpose.
This is a government that's out of touch and refusing to recalibrate after getting a clear message from voters.
Etymology
Origin of recalibrate
Explanation
To recalibrate is to adjust the settings on a device that precisely measures, senses, or moves. You might have to recalibrate your thermostat in order for it to accurately tell you how hot or cold it is in your apartment. When a precision instrument is first set up, it's finely adjusted to be as accurate as possible, a process called calibration. Whenever it needs fine-tuning, someone must recalibrate it, bringing it back to accuracy. This is true for scientific instruments, bathroom scales, barometers, and more. If your baking scale seems off, you may want to recalibrate it. This word is from calibrate, originally "determine the caliber of," a reference to measuring the inside of a gun barrel."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“It was a place to recover, a space to recalibrate. It made you feel like you weren’t homeless.”
From Los Angeles Times • May 8, 2024
“We have to recalibrate. Some of the things that worked against Memphis wouldn’t necessarily work against Golden State,” Ham said, referring to the team’s first two playoff opponents.
From Los Angeles Times • May 17, 2023
And he called his home farewell weekend “screwy” and said, “There wasn’t really a time to recalibrate. I thought we did that this week.”
From Washington Post • Mar. 18, 2022
Ms. Rosenblum had a long conversation with herself and the next night, she said, “I think I’m the one who needs to recalibrate. And it was just ‘on’ from that minute.”
From New York Times • Nov. 5, 2021
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
