compromise

Pluralcompromises

Formscompromises, compromising, compromised

1. 1
   nouncountable or uncountable

   A settling of differences through arbitration or through mutual concessions, with each side giving up part of what it sought.

   After hours of talks, the two sides finally reached a compromise.

   A lasting compromise requires both parties to surrender something.

   Similaragreement, settlement, deal, accommodation, bargain

   Oppositedisagreement, deadlock, impasse

   Note

   Arbitration came first. Medieval Latin compromissum was a mutual promise to refer a dispute to an arbiter, and the settlement grew out of that pledge. The word could already sting in Shakespeare's "basely yielded upon compromise," yet Burke in 1775 held all government "founded on compromise and barter." It works as a countable noun (reach a compromise) and as an uncountable one (a spirit of compromise).

2. 2
   verbintransitive

   To bring a dispute to settlement by adjusting positions through mutual concessions on both sides.

   The negotiators agreed to compromise rather than let the deal collapse.

   Both parties were willing to compromise on the final price.

   Similarsettle, negotiate, bargain, concede

   Note

   The dispute itself can be the object. Thomas Fuller writes that "the controversy may easily be compromised," meaning settled by give-and-take. The verb also stands alone or takes on, as when both sides compromise or they compromise on the price. Split the difference is its homely equivalent, and it suits casual speech better than a formal account of negotiations.

3. 3
   verbintransitive

   To settle on a course that falls between two opposing extremes rather than choosing either one.

   When the budget got tight, the team had to compromise.

   Rather than insist on perfection, she learned to compromise.

   Similaradapt, adjust, concede, bend

4. 4
   verbtransitive

   To damage or weaken something so that it no longer works as well as it should.

   Skipping sleep can compromise your immune system.

   Cutting corners now will compromise the quality of the whole project.

   Similarweaken, impair, undermine, damage, harm

   Oppositestrengthen, boost, enhance, bolster

5. 5
   nouncountable

   A damaging concession or surrender, giving up something in a way that harms one's principles or reputation.

   Signing that deal felt like a compromise of everything she stood for.

   He saw the retreat as a shameful compromise of his principles.

   Similarbetrayal, surrender, abandonment

   Note

   Here the concession costs something it should not. The noun usually takes of plus whatever is damaged, as in a compromise of character or right, and Charles Lamb's 1823 "to the compromise of that sex" shows the fuller pattern "to the compromise of X," meaning "to the harm of X." That of-phrase naming what suffers is the clue that separates it from the fair settlement.

6. 6
   verbtransitive

   To breach a security system, defeating its protections so that unauthorized access becomes possible.

   Hackers managed to compromise the company's main server overnight.

   A single weak password can compromise an entire network.

   Similarbreach, hack, penetrate, infiltrate, crack

   Oppositesecure, protect, safeguard

7. 7
   nouncountable or uncountable

   A breach of a computer or network's rules in which sensitive information may have been disclosed or lost, or the disclosure or loss itself.

   The security team detected a compromise affecting thousands of user accounts.

   Any compromise of patient records must be reported within seventy-two hours.

   Similarbreach, intrusion, leak

   Note

   Security writing uses one noun for both the event and its result. A compromise is the breach of a system's rules and also the leak or loss it allows, whether that loss is confirmed or only suspected. It is countable (several compromises) and uncountable (evidence of compromise). Its verb partner is to breach a security system: attackers compromise a server, and what follows is a compromise.

8. 8
   verbtransitive

   To commit or pledge someone by an act or declaration that cannot be taken back, endangering their life or reputation or exposing them to suspicion.

   One careless email could compromise her standing at the firm.

   Dozens of officers were compromised by the letters found in the minister's desk.

   Similarjeopardize, endanger, damage, discredit, implicate

   Oppositeprotect, safeguard

   Note

   To be compromised in this sense is to be implicated. Motley in 1856 writes of pardoning "all who had been compromised in the late disturbances," where compromised in means drawn into something that leaves one under suspicion. The passive with in is the natural construction, and the harm falls on a person's standing. For damage to a thing's working, see the "impair" meaning.

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