2 meanings
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1 —as in:
its main redeeming quality is...
Definition
to make up for something bad; or to save- Our dog is dirty, noisy, and ill-behaved, but her redeeming quality is that she is so loving.
redeeming = thing that makes up for bad things
Other Uses (with this meaning)
- The movie, Shawshank Redemption, depicts redemption in many ways. The injustice that permits the corrupt prison warden to thrive is made up when he is arrested. Andy's escape from prison with the warden's ill-gotten gains helps to make up for his false imprisonment. And Andy makes up for having failed his wife by helping others generally and in particular by saving Red.
- It's been a terrible season, but the team has a shot at redemption if they can beat their cross-town rival.
- When I decamped from Boulder for Alaska, my head swimming with visions of glory and redemption on the Devils Thumb, it didn't occur to me that I might be bound by the same cause-and-effect relationships that governed the actions of others.Jon Krakauer -- Into the Wild
- When it is recalled that until the Christian era the underworld was never regarded as a hostile area, that all gods were useful and essentially friendly to man despite occasional lapses; when we see the steady and methodical inculcation into humanity of the idea of man's worthlessness—until redeemed—the necessity of the Devil may become evident as a weapon, a weapon designed and used time and time again in every age to whip men into a surrender to a particular church or church-state.Arthur Miller -- The Crucible
- But in the fourth quarter, I'd get my shot at redemption.Carl Deuker -- Gym Candy
- We have torn ourselves from the truth which is our brother men, and there is no road back for us, and no redemption.Ayn Rand -- Anthem
- Better it were a brother died at once
Than that a sister, by redeeming him,
Should die for ever.William Shakespeare -- Measure for Measure - you may redeem your banish'd honours, and restore yourselves Into the good thoughts of the world again;William Shakespeare -- Henry IV, Part 1
- For it's so clear that in order to begin to live in the present we must first redeem the past, and that can only be done by suffering, by strenuous, uninterrupted labour.Anton Chekhov -- The Cherry Orchard
redemption = to make up for something bad; or to save
redemption = making up for something bad
redeemed = saved
redemption = making up for something bad
redemption = making up for it (something bad)
redeeming = saving (by exchanging something else of value)
redeem = to make up for something bad
redeem = make up for (something bad)
2 —as in:
redeem the coupon
Definition
to exchange something such as a coupon or voucher for something of value- The coupon can be redeemed for a free candy bar.
redeemed = exchanged
Other Uses (with this meaning)
- Points earned with the credit card can be redeemed for free airline tickets and other products.
- The city imposed a three-year moratorium on the redemption of $1.6 billion in city short-term debt.
- Shall our coffers, then, be emptied to redeem a traitor home?William Shakespeare -- Henry IV, Part 1
- I know that my Redeemer liveth and that He is yours.Theodore Dreiser -- An American Tragedy
- Oh, place all your trust in the mediation of our Holy Redeemer!James Fenimore Cooper -- The Pathfinder
- The star had shown him where to find the God of the poor; and through humility, and sorrow, and forgiveness, he had gone to his Redeemer's rest.Charles Dickens -- Hard Times
- I could go back and be his comforter — his pride; his redeemer from misery, perhaps from ruin.Charlotte Bronte -- Jane Eyre
- Is it too much to ask that I meet my Redeemer with a healthy nose?Frank McCourt -- Angela's Ashes
- First, I bequeath my soul into ye hands of God who made me, depending my salvation upon the account of Jesus Christ my redeemer.Geraldine Brooks -- Year of Wonders
redeem = exchange in return for (bringing)
Less commonly:
In Christianity, redemption is used to reference Jesus' sacrifice to make up for human sin.
Old usage (as might be found in the Bible or in Shakespeare) also uses redeeming time to refer to making the best use of time.