1. [n]  a tangible and visible entity; an entity that can cast a shadow; "it was full of rackets, balls and other objects"
2. [n]  the focus of cognitions or feelings; "objects of thought"; "the object of my affection"
3. [n]  the goal intended to be attained (and which is believed to be attainable); "the sole object of her trip was to see her children"
4. [n]  a grammatical constituent that is acted upon; "the object of the verb"
5. [v]  express or raise an objection or protest; express dissent; "She never objected to the amount of work her boss charged her with"

1. \Ob*ject"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Objected}; p. pr. & vb.
   n. {Objecting}.] [L. objectus, p. p. of objicere, obicere, to
   throw or put before, to oppose; ob (see {Ob-}) + jacere to
   throw: cf. objecter. See {Jet} a shooting forth.]
   1. To set before or against; to bring into opposition; to
      oppose. [Obs.]
            Of less account some knight thereto object, Whose
            loss so great and harmful can not prove. --Fairfax.
            Some strong impediment or other objecting itself.
                                                  --Hooker.
            Pallas to their eyes The mist objected, and
            condensed the skies.                  --Pope.
   2. To offer in opposition as a criminal charge or by way of
      accusation or reproach; to adduce as an objection or
      adverse reason.
            He gave to him to object his heinous crime.
                                                  --Spencer.
            Others object the poverty of the nation. --Addison.
            The book . . . giveth liberty to object any crime
            against such as are to be ordered.    --Whitgift.
   

2. \Ob*ject"\, v. i.
   To make opposition in words or argument; -- usually followed
   by to. --Sir. T. More.
   

3. \Ob"ject\, n. [L. objectus. See {Object}, v. t.]
   1. That which is put, or which may be regarded as put, in the
      way of some of the senses; something visible or tangible;
      as, he observed an object in the distance; all the objects
      in sight; he touched a strange object in the dark.
   2. That which is set, or which may be regarded as set, before
      the mind so as to be apprehended or known; that of which
      the mind by any of its activities takes cognizance,
      whether a thing external in space or a conception formed
      by the mind itself; as, an object of knowledge, wonder,
      fear, thought, study, etc.
            Object is a term for that about which the knowing
            subject is conversant; what the schoolmen have
            styled the ``materia circa quam.''    --Sir. W.
                                                  Hamilton.
            The object of their bitterest hatred. --Macaulay.
   3. That by which the mind, or any of its activities, is
      directed; that on which the purpose are fixed as the end
      of action or effort; that which is sought for; end; aim;
      motive; final cause.
      Object, beside its proper signification, came to be
      abusively applied to denote motive, end, final cause . . .
      . This innovation was probably borrowed from the French.
                                                  --Sir. W.
                                                  Hamilton.
      Let our object be, our country, our whole country, and
      nothing but our country.                    --D. Webster.
   4. Sight; show; appearance; aspect. [Obs.] --Shak.
            He, advancing close Up to the lake, past all the
            rest, arose In glorious object.       --Chapman.
   5. (Gram.) A word, phrase, or clause toward which an action
      is directed, or is considered to be directed; as, the
      object of a transitive verb.
   {Object glass}, the lens, or system of lenses, placed at the
      end of a telescope, microscope, etc., which is toward the
      object. Its office is to form an image of the object,
      which is then viewed by the eyepiece. Called also
      {objective}. See Illust. of {Microscope}.
   {Object lesson}, a lesson in which object teaching is made
      use of.
   {Object staff}. (Leveling) Same as {Leveling staff}.
   {Object teaching}, a method of instruction, in which
      illustrative objects are employed, each new word or idea
      being accompanied by a representation of that which it
      signifies; -- used especially in the kindergarten, for
      young children.
   

4. \Ob*ject"\, a. [L. objectus, p. p.]
   Opposed; presented in opposition; also, exposed. [Obs.]
   

In object-oriented programming, a unique instance of a data structure defined according to the template provided by its class. Each object has its own values for the variables belonging to its class and can respond to the messages (methods) defined by its class.