compensating

1. 1
   verb

   Present participle and gerund of compensate.

   The company is compensating workers for the overtime they put in last month.

   Compensating the injured employees fairly became the firm's first priority.

   Note

   Two constructions share this form, because compensate works both with and without an object. With an object it usually means paying someone, as in compensating workers for overtime. Without one it needs for and means making up or adjusting, as in compensating for a loss. As a gerund it fills a noun slot, as in compensating the injured fairly.

   The pilot was compensating for the crosswind as the plane descended.

   Nothing they offered was compensating for the years she had lost.

2. 2
   adjective

   Serving to make up for or offset something else, so that a loss or weakness is balanced out.

   The grant acted as a compensating factor for the school's shrinking budget.

   Higher pay was offered as a compensating benefit for the longer commute.

   Similarcountervailing, compensatory

   Note

   Its natural place is before a noun, in pairs like compensating factor and compensating benefit. It grades with more and most rather than -er and -est, as in a more compensating arrangement. That is the quickest way to tell it from the verb form: a word that accepts more is the adjective, while one that takes a direct object (compensating workers) is the participle.

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