4 ADJ If you say that someone is correct in doing something, you approve of their action. □ [+ in ] You are perfectly correct in trying to steer your mother towards increased independence. □ I think the president was correct to reject the offer. ● cor|rect|ly ADV □ When an accident happens, quite correctly questions are asked.
5 VERB If you correct a problem, mistake, or fault, you do something which puts it right. □ [V n] He has criticised the government for inefficiency and delays in correcting past mistakes. ● cor|rec|tion /kəre kʃ ə n/ (corrections ) N‑VAR □ [+ of ] …legislation to require the correction of factual errors. □ We will then make the necessary corrections.
6 VERB If you correct someone, you say something which you think is more accurate or appropriate than what they have just said. □ [V n with quote] 'Actually, that isn't what happened,' George corrects me. □ [V n] I must correct him on a minor point. [Also V with quote]
7 VERB When someone corrects a piece of writing, they look at it and mark the mistakes in it. □ [V n] He focused on preparing his classes and correcting his students' work.
8 ADJ If a person or their behaviour is correct , their behaviour is in accordance with social or other rules. □ I think English men are very polite and very correct. ● cor|rect|ly ADV [ADV with v] □ She behaved correctly but not affectionately towards her father. ● cor|rect|ness N‑UNCOUNT □ …his stiff-legged gait and formal correctness.
cor|rec|tion /kəre kʃ ə n/ (corrections )
1 N‑COUNT [usu pl] Corrections are marks or comments made on a piece of work, especially school work, which indicate where there are mistakes and what are the right answers.
2 N‑UNCOUNT [oft N n] Correction is the punishment of criminals. [mainly AM ] □ …jails and other parts of the correction system.
3 → see also correct
cor|rec|tion|al /kəre kʃənəl/ ADJ [ADJ n] Correctional means related to prisons. [mainly AM ] □ He is currently being held in a metropolitan correctional center.
cor|rec|tive /kəre kt I v/ (correctives )
1 ADJ [usu ADJ n] Corrective measures or techniques are intended to put right something that is wrong. □ Scientific institutions have been reluctant to take corrective action. □ He has received extensive corrective surgery to his skull.
2 N‑COUNT If something is a corrective to a particular view or account, it gives a more accurate or fairer picture than there would have been without it. [FORMAL ] □ [+ to ] …a useful corrective to the mistaken view that all psychologists are behaviourists.
cor|re|late /kɒ rəle I t, [AM ] kɔː r-/ (correlates , correlating , correlated )
1 VERB If one thing correlates with another, there is a close similarity or connection between them, often because one thing causes the other. You can also say that two things correlate . [FORMAL ] □ [V + with ] Obesity correlates with increased risk for hypertension and stroke. □ [V ] The political opinions of spouses correlate more closely than their heights. □ [be V -ed + with/to ] The loss of respect for British science is correlated to reduced funding. □ [be V -ed] At the highest executive levels, earnings and performance aren't always correlated. [Also V + to ]
2 VERB If you correlate things, you work out the way in which they are connected or the way they influence each other. [FORMAL ] □ [V n + with ] The report correlated the stock market values of the companies with their losses. □ [V n] Lieutenant Ryan closed his eyes, first mentally viewing the different crime scenes, then correlating the data.
cor|re|la|tion /kɒ rəle I ʃ ə n, [AM ] kɔː r-/ (correlations ) N‑COUNT A correlation between things is a connection or link between them. [FORMAL ] □ [+ between ] …the correlation between smoking and disease.
cor|rela|tive /kɒre lət I v/ (correlatives ) N‑COUNT If one thing is a correlative of another, the first thing is caused by the second thing, or occurs together with it. [FORMAL ] □ [+ of ] Man has rights only in so far as they are a correlative of duty.
cor|re|spond /kɒ r I spɒ nd, [AM ] kɔː r-/ (corresponds , corresponding , corresponded )
1 VERB If one thing corresponds to another, there is a close similarity or connection between them. You can also say that two things correspond . □ [V + to/with ] Racegoers will be given a number which will correspond to a horse running in a race. □ [V ] The two maps of London correspond closely. □ [V ] Her expression is concerned but her body language does not correspond. ● cor|re|spond|ing ADJ [ADJ n] □ March and April sales were up 8 per cent on the corresponding period last year.
2 VERB If you correspond with someone, you write letters to them. You can also say that two people correspond . □ [V + with ] She still corresponds with American friends she met in Majorca nine years ago. □ [V ] We corresponded regularly.
cor|re|spond|ence /kɒ r I spɒ ndəns, [AM ] kɔː r-/ (correspondences )
1 N‑UNCOUNT [oft a N ] Correspondence is the act of writing letters to someone. □ The judges' decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into. □ [+ with ] His interest in writing came from a long correspondence with a close college friend.
2 N‑UNCOUNT Someone's correspondence is the letters that they receive or send. □ He always replied to his correspondence.