complement

²com·ple·ment

verb \ˈkäm-plə-ˌment\

Definition of COMPLEMENT

intransitive verb

obsolete

: to exchange formal courtesies

transitive verb

1

: to complete or enhance by providing something additional : to be complementary to <the illustrations complement the text>

2

obsolete : compliment

Examples of COMPLEMENT

1. The shirt complements the suit nicely.
2. a delicious dinner complemented by a splendid dessert
3. The soup and salad complement each other well.
4. Carrots often work even better than sticks, so I propose a skinny subsidy to complement the fat tax. —Jonathan Rauch, Atlantic, December 2002
5. The love of Bottom's bottomless vision at least complements, if it does not transcend, the rational love of Theseus. —Frank Kermode, Shakespeare's Language, 2000
6. … his ice-blue Appalachian eyes glint through horn-rimmed glasses, which complement his salt-and-pepper beard. —Henry Louis Gates, Jr., New Yorker, 19 June 1995
7. … lively photographs, illustrations and cartoons designed to complement the meanings of the poems and give a leg-up to the imagination. —Carol Ann Duffy, Times Literary Supplement, 4-10 Dec. 1987

Origin of COMPLEMENT

(see ¹complement)

First Known Use: 1602

Related to COMPLEMENT

Synonyms: complete, round (off or out)

Related Words: finish (off), flesh (out); adorn, beautify, decorate, embellish; better, enhance, improve; constitute, form, make up; enrich, perfect

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Rhymes with COMPLEMENT

accident, aliment, Blaenau Gwent, circumvent, compartment, compliment, confident, devilment, diffident, discontent, document, evident, heaven-sent, implement, incident, instrument, Jack-a-Lent, malcontent, nonevent, Occident, ornament, orient, provident, regiment, reinvent, represent, re-present, resident, Saint-Laurent, sediment, self-content, subsequent, supplement