|Origin:||objectum, from Latin obicere; OBJECT2|
ob‧ject1 S3 W2
a solid thing that you can hold, touch, or see but that is not alive: ➔ UFO
an everyday object such as a spoon
a small metal object
scientists studying plants, animals, or inanimate objects (=things that are not alive)
the purpose of a plan, action, or activity [↪ goal, aim] ! Do not use object to mean 'the thing you are working towards and hope to achieve'. Use objective: We have not yet achieved our objective (NOT our object).
The object of the game is to improve children's math skills.
My object was to explain the decision simply.
The customer will benefit most, and that is the object of the exercise (=the purpose of what you are doing).
someone or something that is pitied, wanted etc: ➔ sex object
She feared becoming an object of ridicule.
sports cars and other objects of desire
used to say that you are willing to spend a lot of money to get something:
Money's no object; I want the best.
an event or story that shows you the right or wrong way of doing something
object lesson in
The way ants work is an object lesson in order and organization.
a noun or pronoun representing the person or thing that something is done to, for example 'the house' in 'We built the house.' [= direct object]
a noun or pronoun representing the person or thing that is joined by a preposition to another word or phrase, for example 'the table' in 'He sat on the table.'
the person who is involved in the result of an action, for example 'her' in 'I gave her the book.' [= indirect object; ↪ subject]
a combination of written information on a computer and instructions that act on the information, for example in the form of a document or a picture:
multimedia data objects