readjustv.
/ˌriːəˈdʒʌst/, U.S. /ˌriəˈdʒəst/ transitive. To adjust again; to put in order again. Also intransitive.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > order > agreement, harmony, or congruity > adaptation or adjustment > adapt or adjust [verb (transitive)] > bring into conformity > adjust to a standard or purpose > again
redispose1635
readjusta1678
retrick1874
a1678 A. Marvell Last Instr. to Painter in Coll. Poems Affairs of State (1689) III. 3 Poring within her Glass she re-adjusts Her looks.
1728 R. Rawlinson tr. N. Lenglet Dufresnoy New Method studying Hist. I. iii. 41 We may also..wait for a new edition now printing in Holland from that of Paris, wherein the Editor has re-adjusted all that judicious persons have thought proper to be corrected.
1742 H. Fielding Joseph Andrews II. iv. xi. 261 The Beau..taking out a Pocket-Glass..re-adjusted his Hair. View more context for this quotation
1765 Philos. Trans. 1764 (Royal Soc.) 54 357 It is not always necessary to re~adjust the wires after each sett of observations.
1848 J. S. Mill Princ. Polit. Econ. iii. xvi. §1 The values and prices of the two things will..readjust themselves.
1864 E. B. Pusey Daniel iv. 214 It adjusts, re~adjusts, turns, re-turns, in every way it wills.
1907 Newark (Ohio) Daily Advocate 11 Jan. 5/4 He will attempt to readjust Wortman's brain cells, which have been disturbed by a stroke of lightning.
1930 A. P. Herbert Water Gipsies xv. 225 The foot-board was never quite right and often had to be readjusted.
1991 A. Chaudhuri Strange & Sublime Addr. (1992) ii. 8 Beside the radio, there was a clock with a white face which always ran ten minutes fast. Every night, the time was readjusted, and every morning, with great accuracy, it had gained ten minutes.
Derivatives
reaˈdjusted adj.
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1841 E. Nott Counsels to Young Men xv. 286 The forces which produced them were so adjusted by the Maker of the universe as to..bring back the planets to the same relative position in a readjusted system.
1941 Daily Courier (Connellsville, Pa.) 5 Nov. 2/3 The readjusted plans suspend both army physical examinations and inductions in Pennsylvania during the Christman holiday season.
2007 Multichannel News (Nexis) 21 May 27 A part of Akinmbo's readjusted business model will be selling video downloads to PCs.
reaˈdjusting n.
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1776 H. Cavendish in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 66 385 It is not likely to want re-adjusting soon.
1913 Times 1 Aug. 15/1 There was some anxiety when Wooton pulled him up..and dismounted, but the reason was that the girths needed readjusting.
1983 E. McClanahan Natural Man (1984) x. 129 Rode and Gene had some serious readjusting to do, in consequence of which they stayed as drunk as owls for the entire fifty-two weeks.
2000 M. Barrowcliffe Girlfriend 44 v. 153 I reckoned he had seen the cut of my jib and concluded that it needed readjusting, preferably through some no-nonsense treatment in the cells.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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