Forum: ell.stackexchange.com
Tags: <phrases>
Title: Is there a single word as a substitute for "make .. constant"?
Question: This method makes the pressure in a container when the temperature in  the container is less than 10℃ constant.   This is just an example I created.  In this example, the words "make" and "constant" are away from each other. Is it possible to rewrite this in such a manner that "This method makes constant the pressure..."? or is there a single word  as a substitute for "make .. constant"?

Answers:
sents: text: A possible one-word synonym for "make (sth) constant" is "stabilize".
text: However, "stabilize" suggests that the thing being stabilized (in this case, the pressure) was unstable, which might not always be the case.
text: Your sentence could be improved if you extraposed what does not need to remain in mid position:
text: This method makes/keeps the pressure in a container constant when its temperature / when the temperature inside is less/lower than 10ºC.
text: I think "keep sth constant" makes more sense that "make sth constant".
text: Otherwise, if the condition was not constant and becomes constant by applying a method, "stabilize" could be a more appropriate choice.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/49058/Gustavson
score: 2
sents: text: It is grammatical to bring the word constant to the front of the sentence in that situation so that it comes after makes : This method makes constant the pressure in a container when its internal temperature is less than 10℃. or to place it after container : This method makes the pressure in a container constant when its internal temperature is less than 10℃.
text: Compare:
text: He wished to make known a feature of so-called "small clauses".
text: He wished to make a feature of so-called "small clauses" known.
text: P.S.
text: You can also substitute the verb keep for the verb make as user Gustavson says in his answer.
text: I think keep is better here than make .
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/10264/Tᴚoɯɐuo
score: 2
sents: text: What about fix ?
text: This method fixes the pressure in a container when the temperature in the container is less than 10℃.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/40945/Diamond
score: 2
sents: text: What about " stabilizes "? to cause something to become fixed and stop changing, esp.
text: in order to keep it from becoming worse, or to become fixed and stop changing: These medicines stabilize your heart rate and lower blood pressure.
text: So, in your sentence, This method stabilizes the pressure in a container when the internal temperature is less than 10℃.
text: If the implication is that the pressure is otherwise yoyoing up and down, this should work quite well for you.
text: Alternately, you could rearrange your sentence slightly to avoid repeating words and bring "make" and "constant" closer together:
text: This method makes the pressure in a container constant when the internal temperature is less than 10℃.
text: This doesn't require a new term, instead cleaning up the text.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/16318/Catija
score: 1
sents: text: Opposing constant forces meet at a point called an equilibrium.
text: The single-word verb form of this is equilibrate .
text: This method equilibrates the pressure in a container, when the temperature in the container is less than 10℃.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/5144/LawrenceC
score: 1

Summary of the answers:
"Stabilizes" could be used as a one-word term. However, this can be rewritten to clean up the text by bringing "make" and "constant" closer together, as in "This method makes the pressure in a container constant when the internal temperature is less than 10 degrees"
When internal temperature of a container is less than 10°C, this method stabilizes the pressure.