object complement

American  

noun

Grammar.

1. a word or a group of words used in the predicate following a factitive verb and referring to its direct object, as treasurer in We appointed him treasurer, white in They painted the house white, or an interesting speaker in They thought him an interesting speaker.

---

Etymology

Origin of object complement

First recorded in 1905–10

Example Sentences

A noun used as subject is in the +Nominative Case+; used as object complement it is in the +Objective Case+; and used to denote possession it is in the +Possessive Case+.

From Higher Lessons in English A work on English grammar and composition by Kellogg, Brainerd

What is the object complement of could do?

From Higher Lessons in English A work on English grammar and composition by Kellogg, Brainerd

Enlargement of predicate, 241. of subject, object, complement, 240.

From An English Grammar by Sewell, James Witt

Find in 1 a pronoun used adverbially and a phrase used as object complement.

From Higher Lessons in English A work on English grammar and composition by Kellogg, Brainerd

If we say Cornwallis was captured by Washington, the verb is still transitive; but the object, Cornwallis, which names the receiver, is here the subject of the sentence, and not, as before, the object complement.

From Higher Lessons in English A work on English grammar and composition by Kellogg, Brainerd