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)
- It's been a terrible season, but the team has a shot at redemption if they can beat their cross-town rival.
- 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.
- In Sugamo Prison, as he was told of Watanabe's fate, all Louie saw was a lost person, a life now beyond redemption.Laura Hillenbrand -- Unbroken
- And that, I believe, is what true redemption is, Amir jan, when guilt leads to good.Khaled Hosseini -- The Kite Runner
- How if, when I am laid into the tomb,
I wake before the time that Romeo
Come to redeem me? There's a fearful point!William Shakespeare -- Romeo and Juliet - "Everyone has something good about them," she said. "You have to find the redeeming quality and love the person for that."Jeannette Walls -- The Glass Castle
- It disappoints her, because she desperately wants to find something redeeming about him.Neal Shusterman -- Unwind
- Thus not the tenderness of friendship, nor the beauty of earth, nor of heaven, could redeem my soul from woe; the very accents of love were ineffectual.Mary Shelley -- Frankenstein
- The only redeeming facet of Support Group was this kid named Isaac, a long-faced, skinny guy with straight blond hair swept over one eye.John Green -- The Fault in Our Stars
redemption = making up for bad things (in this case, saving the season)
redemption = to make up for something bad
redemption = saving
redemption = making up for something bad
redeem = save
redeeming = making up for the bad
redeeming = making up for bad qualities
redeem = save
redeeming = making up for bad qualities
2 —as in:
redeem the coupon
Definition
exchange, convert, or pay offThe exact meaning of abnegate can depend upon its context. For example:
- "to redeem a coupon" — exchange something for something else of value
- "to redeem stock" — sell or convert to cash
- "to redeem a mortgage" — pay off a loan
- The coupon can be redeemed for a free candy bar.
redeemed = exchanged
Other Uses (with this meaning)
- The city imposed a three-year moratorium on the redemption of $1.6 billion in city short-term debt.
- Points earned with the credit card can be redeemed for free airline tickets and other products.
- When we wanted money, we walked along the roadside picking up beer cans and bottles that we redeemed for two cents each.Jeannette Walls -- The Glass Castle
- Shall our coffers, then, be emptied to redeem a traitor home?William Shakespeare -- Henry IV, Part 1
- Babysitting and tutoring and doing other kids' homework and mowing lawns and redeeming bottles and selling scrap metal didn't count.Jeannette Walls -- The Glass Castle
- One afternoon when Brian and I had come home to an empty fridge, we went out to the alley behind the house looking for bottles to redeem.Jeannette Walls -- The Glass Castle
- After we redeemed the bottles or sold the scrap metal, we walked into town, to the drugstore next door to the Owl Club.Jeannette Walls -- The Glass Castle
- If he possesses an unusual share of native energy, or the enervating magic of place do not operate too long upon him, his forfeited powers may be redeemable.Nathaniel Hawthorne -- The Scarlet Letter
- He tried to make us act plays and to enter into masquerades, in which the characters were drawn from the heroes of Roncesvalles, of the Round Table of King Arthur, and the chivalrous train who shed their blood to redeem the holy sepulchre from the hands of the infidels.Mary Shelley -- Frankenstein
redemption = paying
redeemed = exchanged
redeemed = exchanged
redeem = exchange in return for (bringing)
redeeming = exchanging (for money)
redeem = exchange (for money)
redeemed = exchanged (for money)
redeemable = able to be recovered
(Editor's note: The suffix "-able" means able to be. This is the same pattern you see in words like breakable, understandable, and comfortable.)
redeem = regain possession
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.
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.
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