complement

1. 1.

   a word or phrase used to complete a grammatical construction

   Broaderconstruction
2. 2.

   a complete number or quantity

   “a full complement”

   Broadercount
3. 3.

   number needed to make up a whole force

   “a full complement of workers”

   Synonymsfull complement

   Broaderwork force

   Narrowership's company
4. 4.

   something added to complete or embellish or make perfect

   “a fine wine is a perfect complement to the dinner”

   “wild rice was served as an accompaniment to the main dish”

   Synonymsaccompaniment

   Broaderadjunct
5. 5.

   one of a series of enzymes in the blood serum that are part of the immune response

   Broaderenzyme

   Part ofimmune response
6. 6.

   either of two parts that mutually complete each other

   Broadercounterpart

1. 1.

   make complete or perfect; supply what is wanting or form the complement to

   “I need some pepper to complement the sweet touch in the soup”

   Broaderbalance

Other forms of complement

plural

complements·

past tense

complemented·

present participle

complementing·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about complement

What does complement mean?

complement means "a word or phrase used to complete a grammatical construction". That is the primary sense; the word has 7 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in complement?

complement has 3 syllables: com-ple-ment. The stress falls on "com". In IPA it is /ˈkɑmpləmənt/.

What is another word for complement?

Close synonyms include full complement, accompaniment. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is complement a common word?

complement is banded "Familiar" — widely understood, used when the subject calls for it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.