[kom-pluh-muh
n-tey-shuhn] 
| 1. | complementary distribution. |
| 2. | Genetics. the occurrence of a wild-type phenotype when two closely related, interacting mutant genes are expressed in the same cell. |
| 3. | Grammar.
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| 4. | cooperation in lowering tariffs to permit the movement of components among different countries when it is more profitable for each country to produce parts of a product than the whole. |
| a relation such that the members of a pair or set of phones, morphs, or other linguistic units have no environment in common, as aspirated “p” and unaspirated “p” in English, the first occurring only in positions where the second does not. |
complementation com·ple·men·ta·tion (kŏm'plə-mən-tā'shən, -měn-)
n.
Functional interaction between two defective viruses permitting replication under conditions inhibitory to the single virus.
Interaction between two genetic units, one or both of which are defective, permitting the organism containing these units to function normally, whereas it could not do so if one unit were absent.