a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
a chattering or flighty, light-headed person.
a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison.
to make complex, intricate, involved, or difficult: His recovery from the operation was complicated by an allergic reaction.
adjective
2.
complex; involved.
3.
Entomology. folded longitudinally one or more times, as the wings of certain insects.
Origin: 1615–25; < Latin complicātus (past participle of complicāre to fold together), equivalent to com-com- + -plic- (combining form of *plecāre to fold, akin to plectī to plait; see complex) + -ātus-ate1
Related forms
o·ver·com·pli·cate, verb (used with object), -cat·ed, -cat·ing.
pre·com·pli·cate, verb (used with object), -cat·ed, -cat·ing.
re·com·pli·cate, verb (used with object), -cat·ed, -cat·ing.
un·com·pli·cate, verb (used with object), -cat·ed, -cat·ing.
1620s, "to intertwine," from L. complicatus, pp. of complicare (see complication). Meaning "to make more complex" is recorded from 1832. Related: Complicating (1691).