the act or process of correcting something offered or substituted for an error; an improvement the act or process of punishing; reproof a number or quantity added to or subtracted from a scientific or mathematical calculation or observation to increase its accuracy
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
cor•rec•tion /kəˈrɛkʃən/USA pronunciation
n.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- something done to take the place of something wrong or inaccurate:[countable]The corrections were in red ink.
- the act of correcting:[uncountable]the correction of bad habits.
- [uncountable] punishment or chastisement.
- Sociology Usually, corrections. [plural] the various methods, such as jail sentences, parole, and probation, by which society deals with convicted criminals:[countable]the department of corrections.
cor•rec•tion
(kə rek′shən),USA pronunciation n.
- something that is substituted or proposed for what is wrong or inaccurate;
emendation. - the act of correcting.
- punishment intended to reform, improve, or rehabilitate;
chastisement;
reproof. - SociologyUsually, corrections. the various methods, as incarceration, parole, and probation, by which society deals with convicted offenders.
- 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.
- Stock Exchange, Businessa reversal of the trend of stock prices, esp. temporarily, as after a sharp advance or decline in the previous trading sessions.
- Latin corrēctiōn- (stem of corrēctiō) a setting straight. See correct, -ion
- Anglo-French)
- Middle English correccio(u)n (1300–50
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