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• object
  object

  noun

  anything that is visible or tangible and is relatively stable in form.
• object.
  object.

  abbreviation

  objection.

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Which term, borrowed from French, describes a small, interesting object?

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object

¹ American  

[ob-jikt, -jekt, uhb-jekt] / ˈɒb dʒɪkt, -dʒɛkt, əbˈdʒɛkt /

noun

• objects
  plural

1. anything that is visible or tangible and is relatively stable in form.

2. a thing, person, or matter to which thought or action is directed.

   an object of medical investigation.

3. the end toward which effort or action is directed; goal; purpose.

   Profit is the object of business.

   Synonyms:

   motive, intention, intent, aim, target, objective

4. 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.

5. anything that may be apprehended intellectually.

   objects of thought.

6. Optics. the thing of which a lens or mirror forms an image.

7. Grammar. (in many languages, such as English) a noun, noun phrase, or pronoun that represents either the goal of the action of a verb or the goal of a preposition in a prepositional phrase: for example, ball in John hit the ball, or Venice in He came to Venice, or coin and her in He gave her a coin.

8. Digital Technology.

   1. any item that can be individually selected or manipulated, as a picture, data file, or piece of text.

   2. in object-oriented programming, a self-contained entity that consists of both data and operations to manipulate the data.

9. Metaphysics. something toward which a cognitive act is directed.

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verb (used without object)

• objects,
  present (3rd person singular)
• objected,
  past participle,  past
• objecting
  present participle

1. to offer a reason or argument in opposition.

2. to express or feel disapproval, dislike, or distaste; be averse.

3. to refuse or attempt to refuse to permit some action, speech, etc.

verb (used with object)

• objects,
  present (3rd person singular)
• objected,
  past participle,  past
• objecting
  present participle

1. 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.

2. Archaic. to bring forward or cite in opposition.

object. ² American  

abbreviation

1. objection.

2. objective.

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object ¹ British  

/ ˈɒbdʒɪkt /

noun

1. a tangible and visible thing

2. a person or thing seen as a focus or target for feelings, thought, etc

   an object of affection

3. an aim, purpose, or objective

4. informal a ridiculous or pitiable person, spectacle, etc

5. philosophy that towards which cognition is directed, as contrasted with the thinking subject; anything regarded as external to the mind, esp in the external world

6. grammar a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase whose referent is the recipient of the action of a verb See also direct object indirect object

7. grammar a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase that is governed by a preposition

8. not a hindrance or obstacle

   money is no object

9. computing a self-contained identifiable component of a software system or design

   object-oriented programming

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object ² British  

/ əbˈdʒɛkt /

verb

1. (tr; takes a clause as object) to state as an objection

   he objected that his motives had been good

2. to raise or state an objection (to); present an argument (against)

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object Cultural  

1. 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.)

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object Idioms  

1. see money is no object.

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Synonym Usage

See aim.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• objector
  noun
• overobject
  verb
• reobject
  verb (used with object)
• unobjected
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• objects
  plural

Participles

• objecting
  present
• objected
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• object
  simple
• objects
  simple
• have objected
  perfect
• has objected
  perfect
• am objecting
  progressive
• are objecting
  progressive
• is objecting
  progressive
• have been objecting
  perfect progressive
• has been objecting
  perfect progressive

Past

• objected
  simple
• had objected
  perfect
• was objecting
  progressive
• were objecting
  progressive
• had been objecting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will object
  simple
• will have objected
  perfect
• will be objecting
  progressive
• will have been objecting
  perfect progressive

Etymology

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 “thrown toward,” past participle of obicere, objicere “to throw toward” ( see ob- ( def. ), jet ¹ ( def. )); verb from Middle French obje(c)ter, from Latin objectāre “to throw or put before, oppose,” frequentative of obicere, objicere, as above

Explanation

When your younger brother runs around the house with scissors, you should definitely object. Perhaps a less sharp object such as a roll of paper towels would suffice. An object (OB-ject) is something that is a visible entity, something that can be perceived by the senses. If you are unsure whether something is an object, test it by seeing whether it can cast a shadow; if it can, it's an object, if it can't, it's not. In court, lawyers will often say, "I object!" Here, the verb object (ob-JECT) means to express disagreement.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

object object. objects objected objecting

Beatty was prompted to take on the Kennedy Center fight after she said the host muted her when she tried to object during the board’s first vote to rename the center in December.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2026

They found the same faint object in observations collected in 2018 and 2020.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 17, 2026

The inquest in Crook heard the building's owner, Peter Moody, was pulling up floorboards in the second floor living room when he saw an object wrapped in old brown paper.

From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026

Some may object that the court has lately made itself the indispensable man.

From Slate ● Sep. 16, 2026

Jason took out another object from the box, another old heliogram.

From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton

"And they could not see the object. With JWST, our entire observation took around two hours, and we were successful."

From Science Daily ● Jun. 28, 2026

"What is left is an inanimate object. Like all other objects, some people have no interest in this, some people think it's repulsive, but other people like them and they collect them."

From BBC ● Jun. 26, 2026

“Your honor, I object. This case is not funny!” pleads the prosecutor amid the sweltering hilarity, but few appear to agree with him.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 23, 2026

“People have feelings; we have anxiety. And by definition, anxiety doesn’t have a specific object. It’s just: “I feel anxious.”

From Salon ● Jan. 15, 2026

“Haven’t you heard that you shouldn’t keep a dead person’s belongings? Once people die, they can still have an attachment to an object. That’s how houses get haunted, ’cause haints stay around their stuff.

From "The Manifestor Prophecy" by Angie Thomas

Scientists cannot move planets around to perform controlled experiments, so they have to measure the gravitational attraction between much smaller objects that can be weighed and precisely positioned.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 20, 2026

It raised again the question of why it is so hard to hold actors accountable for the destruction of buildings and objects with real cultural significance.

From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026

The section “Skeletal Embodiment,” in which all the featured garments and objects are shades of bleached bone, blanched coral and fossil gray, is simultaneously prehistoric and futuristic—a realm of deep time in both directions.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026

Among the many surprises uncovered by the James Webb Space Telescope, one of the strangest has been a large population of tiny, intensely red objects known as Little Red Dots.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 17, 2026

It used water to lift up heavy objects.

From "The (Mostly) True Story of Cleopatra's Needle" by Dan Gutman

When engineers objected, saying they should focus on fixing existing platform issues, Coplan sometimes told them to build them with AI instead, former employees said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2026

Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla., was among several venues that objected to hosting Sheeran’s tour if Macklemore remained on the bill.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026

The BBC can reveal that those staff objected to a line in the report concluding that he was "an unlikely candidate for clandestine involvement with Islamist extremists".

From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026

“I objected in the strongest possible terms and fought it as hard as I could. It wasn’t enough.”

From Salon ● Sep. 4, 2026

“You need to eat, too, Temp,” objected Gregor.

From "Gregor the Overlander" by Suzanne Collins

After a few weeks, Iran, objecting to U.S. efforts to guide ships through the waterway, went back to attacking vessels.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026

Daniels has been criticized on social media for objecting to Pickett wearing No. 5, primarily because Burrows led LSU to a national title while Daniels did not.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026

While objecting to the subpoenas in court, the company simultaneously convinced the DOJ to drop the case, he said.

From Salon ● Jun. 10, 2026

Environmentalists had opposed the relief road - objecting to the impact on nature sites along the Gwent Levels.

From BBC ● May 2, 2026

“What do you know about him?” asked Laurie, grateful for the good advice, but objecting to the lecture, and glad to turn the conversation from himself after his unusual outbreak.

From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott

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