anything that is visible or tangible and is relatively stable in form.
a thing, person, or matter to which thought or action is directed: an object of medical investigation.
the end toward which effort or action is directed; goal; purpose: Profit is the object of business.
a person or thing with reference to the impression made on the mind or the feeling or emotion elicited in an observer: an object of curiosity and pity.
anything that may be apprehended intellectually: objects of thought.
Optics. the thing of which a lens or mirror forms an image.
Grammar. (in many languages, as English) a noun, noun phrase, or noun substitute representing by its syntactical position either the goal of the action of a verb or the goal of a preposition in a prepositional phrase, as ball in John hit the ball, Venice in He came to Venice, coin and her in He gave her a coin.Compare direct object, indirect object.
Digital Technology.
any item that can be individually selected or manipulated, as a picture, data file, or piece of text.
in object-oriented programming, a self-contained entity that consists of both data and operations to manipulate the data.
Metaphysics. something toward which a cognitive act is directed.
verb (used without object)
to offer a reason or argument in opposition.
to express or feel disapproval, dislike, or distaste; be averse.
to refuse or attempt to refuse to permit some action, speech, etc.
verb (used with object)
to state, claim, or cite in opposition; put forward in objection, disagreement, or disapproval: Some people objected that the proposed import duty would harm world trade.
Archaic. to bring forward or adduce in opposition.
Origin of object
First recorded in 1325–75; (noun) Middle English: “something perceived, purpose, objection,” from Medieval Latin objectum “something thrown down or presented (to the mind),” noun use of neuter of Latin objectus (past participle of objicere ), equivalent to ob- ob- + jec- (combining form of jacere “to throw”; see jet1) + -tus past participle suffix; (verb) Middle English objecten “to argue against,” from Middle French obje(c)ter, from Latin objectāre “to throw or put before, oppose”
Physicists don’t usually deal with objects of different sizes at the same time.
How Mathematical ‘Hocus-Pocus’ Saved Particle Physics|Charlie Wood|September 17, 2020|Quanta Magazine
Powerful gusts not only blow objects around, they also churn up massive waves called storm surges.
Soggy coastal soils? Here’s why ecologists love them|Alison Pearce Stevens|September 17, 2020|Science News For Students
When you only look at things close-up, your eyes don’t get practice focusing on distant objects.
Healthy screen time is one challenge of distance learning|Kathryn Hulick|September 11, 2020|Science News For Students
GPT-3’s word embeddings are not perceptually grounded in the world, which explains why it often struggles to consistently answer common-sense questions about visual and physical features of familiar objects.
Welcome to the Next Level of Bullshit - Issue 89: The Dark Side|Raphaël Millière|September 9, 2020|Nautilus
It’s not yet clear what this object is and what its purpose might be.
China says it has launched and landed a reusable spacecraft|Neel Patel|September 8, 2020|MIT Technology Review
And who better to do that with than the actress who is playing the object of said (alleged) lesbian affection in the flick?
If they run off with somebody else, we say they were stolen—as if they are an object or a commodity.
Owning Up to Possession’s Downside|Samantha Harvey|December 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST
And for some clients, money was no object in getting their fantasies fulfilled.
Whip It: Secrets of a Dominatrix|Justin Jones|November 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Hockney saw the object that would become the bane of office secretaries everywhere as bringing him closer to his art.
The Many Lives of Artist David Hockney|William O’Connor|November 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST
And it is difficult to object to same-sex marriage when so many binary-defying unions have already taken place.
Intersexuality and God Through the Ages|Candida Moss|November 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
That child was as truly an object of reverence to us as any patient sufferer of mature age.
Household Education|Harriet Martineau
At first it appeared so totally dark that Ben could not distinguish any object in the room.
Biographical Stories|Nathaniel Hawthorne
The object was a picture, the picture of a young man in the uniform of a captain in the German cuirassiers.
Stories That End Well|Octave Thanet
Moreover, they opened a handsome casino and less reputable gambling houses with the object of collecting further toll.
Brandon of the Engineers|Harold Bindloss
Admiration is in its nature respectful, whilst desire tends to profane its object.
Lectures on the true, the beautiful and the good|Victor Cousin
British Dictionary definitions for object (1 of 2)
object1
/ (ˈɒbdʒɪkt) /
noun
a tangible and visible thing
a person or thing seen as a focus or target for feelings, thought, etcan object of affection
an aim, purpose, or objective
informala ridiculous or pitiable person, spectacle, etc
philosophythat towards which cognition is directed, as contrasted with the thinking subject; anything regarded as external to the mind, esp in the external world
grammara noun, pronoun, or noun phrase whose referent is the recipient of the action of a verbSee also direct object, indirect object
grammara noun, pronoun, or noun phrase that is governed by a preposition
no objectnot a hindrance or obstaclemoney is no object
computinga self-contained identifiable component of a software system or designobject-oriented programming
Word Origin for object
C14: from Late Latin objectus something thrown before (the mind), from Latin obicere; see object ²
British Dictionary definitions for object (2 of 2)
object2
/ (əbˈdʒɛkt) /
verb
(tr; takes a clause as object)to state as an objectionhe objected that his motives had been good
(intr often foll by to) to raise or state an objection (to); present an argument (against)
Derived forms of object
objector, noun
Word Origin for object
C15: from Latin obicere, from ob- against + jacere to throw
A part of a sentence; a noun, pronoun, or group of words that receives or is affected by the action of a verb. (See direct object, indirect object, and objective case.)