Correct, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Corrected; p. pr. & vb. n. Correcting.]
1. To make right; to bring to the standard of truth, justice, or propriety; to rectify; as, to correct manners or principles. This is a defect in the first make of same men's minds which can scarce ever be corrected afterwards. T. Burnet.
2. To remove or retrench the faults or errors of; to amend; to set right; as, to correct the proof (that is, to mark upon the margin the changes to be made, or to make in the type the changes so marked).
3. To bring back, or attempt to bring back, to propriety in morals; to reprove or punish for faults or deviations from moral rectitude; to chastise; to discipline; as, a child should be corrected for lying. My accuser is my 'prentice; and when I did correct him for his fault the other day, he did vow upon his knees he would be even with me. Shak.
4. To counteract the qualities of one thing by those of another; -- said of whatever is wrong or injurious; as, to correct the acidity of the stomach by alkaline preparations.
1 more senses
Syn. -- To amend; rectify; emend; reform; improve; chastise; punish; discipline; chasten. See Amend.
1 other Webster entry under this spelling
Correct (kr-rkt), a.
Set right, or made straight; hence, conformable to truth, rectitude, or propriety, or to a just standard; nnot faulty or imperfect; free from error; as, correct behavior; correct views. Always use the most correct editions. Felton.
Syn. -- Accurate; right, exact; precise; regular; faultless. See Accurate.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for correct; he lists it under amend, chasten, perfect.
Where he writes about it:
We correct evils, reform abuses, rectify incidental conditions of evil or error; we ameliorate poverty and misery, which we can not wholly remove. — from amend
We mend a tool, repair a building, correct proof; we amend character or conduct that is faulty, or a statement or law that is defective. — from amend
Castigate and chastise refer strictly to corporal punishment, tho both are somewhat archaic; correct and punish are often used as euphemisms in preference to either. — from chasten