Dictionary
Thesaurus
Encyclopedia
Translator
Web

complementary

 - 3 dictionary results

com⋅ple⋅men⋅ta⋅ry

[kom-pluh-men-tuh-ree, -tree] adjective, noun, plural -ries.
–adjective
1. forming a complement; completing.
2. complementing each other.
–noun
3. complementary color (def. 1).

Origin:
1590–1600; complement + -ary


com⋅ple⋅men⋅ta⋅ri⋅ness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To complementary
com·ple·men·ta·ry   (kŏm'plə-měn'tə-rē, -trē)   
adj.  
  1. Forming or serving as a complement; completing.

  2. Supplying mutual needs or offsetting mutual lacks.

  3. Genetics Of or relating to a group of genes that act in concert to produce a specific phenotype.

  4. Biochemistry Of or relating to the specific pairing of the purines and pyrimidines between strands of a DNA or an RNA molecule.

com'ple·men'ta·ri·ly (-tə-rə-lē, -trə-lē, -měn-târ'ə-lē) adv., com'ple·men'ta·ri·ness n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: com·ple·men·ta·ry
Pronunciation: "käm-pl&-'ment-&-rE, -'men-trE
Function: adjective
1 : relatingto or constituting one of a pair of contrasting colors that produce a neutral color when combined in suitable proportions
2 : characterized by molecular complementarity;especially : characterized by the capacity for precise pairing of purine and pyrimidine bases between strands of DNA and sometimes RNA such that the structure of one strand determinesthe other —com·ple·men·ta·ri·ly /-'men-tr&-lE, -(")men-'ter-&-lE, -'ment-&-r&-lE/ adverbcom·ple·men·ta·ri·ness /-'ment-&-rE-n&s, -'men-trE-/ noun
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
Cite This Source
Search another word or see complementary on Thesaurus | Reference
FacebookTwitterFollow us: