complement

From Wiktionary

Contents 1 Pronunciation 1.1 Homophones 2 Verb 3 Noun 4 Related words

[change] Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ˈkɒmpləmənt/, SAMPA: /"kQmpl@m@nt/
• (US) IPA: /ˈkɑːmpləmənt/, SAMPA: /"kA:mpl@m@nt/

[change] Homophones

• compliment (in some dialects)

[change] Verb

Plain form complement

Third-person singular complements

Past tense complemented

Past participle complemented

Present participle complementing

1. (transitive) To make complete or whole.

   We believe your addition will complement the team.

2. (transitive) To have what the partner does not have and lack what the partner has.

   The flavors of the pepper and garlic complement each other, giving a very rich taste in combination.

   I believe our talents really complement each other.

3. (transitive) To change a voltage, number, color, etc. to its complement.

[change] Noun

Singular complement

Plural complements

1. Something which complements.

   We believe you will make a good complement to our team.

2. (grammar) A complement is a word or phrase that is needed to make another word grammatical.

   In "he seems nice," nice is the complement of seems.

3. (geometry) an angle which, together with a given angle, makes a right angle.
4. The color which, when mixed with the given color, gives black (for mixing pigments) or white (for mixing light).

   The complement of blue is orange.

5. In boating: The full number of people needed to man a ship (esp. a ship of war)

   The ships complement is 35 people. 35 people are needed to sail the ship

[change] Related words

• complementary

Grammar (edit)
parts of speech	noun - verb - adjective - adverb - determiner - pronoun - conjunction - preposition - interjection
grammatical functions	subject - predicate - object - complement - modifier - adjunct - determiner
clauses	independent clause - dependent clause - subordinate clause - relative clause