The Collaborative International Dictionary
Supplemental \Sup`ple*men"tal\, Supplementary \Sup`ple*men"ta*ry\, a. [Cf. F. suppl['e]mentaire.] Added to supply what is wanted; additional; being, or serving as, a supplement; as, a supplemental law; a supplementary sheet or volume.
Supplemental air (Physiol.), the air which in addition to the residual air remains in the lungs after ordinary expiration, but which, unlike the residual air, can be expelled; reserve air.
Supplemental bill (Equity), a bill filed in aid of an
original bill to supply some deffect in the latter, or to
set forth new facts which can not be done by amendment.
--Burrill.
--Daniel.
Supplementary chords (Math.), in an ellipse or hyperbola, any two chords drawn through the extremities of a diameter, and intersecting on the curve.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
c.1600, from supplement (n.) + -al (1). Related: Supplementally. Generally "added to supply what is wanted," whereas supplementary historically tends toward "added as something secondary or supernumerary."
Wiktionary
a. 1 Acting to supplement. 2 appending. 3 Lacking a regular schedule (as in a ''supplemental'' airline). n. 1 Something that supplements or adds to. 2 A requisition or article of legislation that provides additional funding for a program.
WordNet
adj. functioning in a subsidiary or supporting capacity; "the main library and its auxiliary branches" [syn: auxiliary, subsidiary, supplementary]
added to complete or make up a deficiency; "produced supplementary volumes"; "additional reading" [syn: supplementary, additional]
Wikipedia
Usage examples of "supplemental".
With an ease he knew would have surprised his Lucien, Tsecha stowed supplemental shooter power packs and assorted scanning and blocking devices within other pockets in the suit.
You may recall a particularly puzzling bit of mean-spiritedness in the Republican recision bill: the decision to cut the Supplemental Security Income that goes to poor children with crippling conditions such as spina bifida.
For the CIA, he essentially stopped cutting allocations and supported requests for supplemental funds for counterterrorism.
We turned first to the nearest relatives of the dodo for our supplemental DNA -- from the solitaire specimens that are still extant, and from the Nicobar pigeon.
I had become the spokesman for HealthExtras, a company based in Maryland that offers low-cost supplemental insurance to cover nonmedical expenses in the event of a catastrophic illness or disability.
Probably, too, there would be supplemental police because of the kidnap alert, and questions were almost certain to be asked about the caskets and their contents.
There had been barely a squeak from Congress over the supplemental appropriation bill.
He would be working day and night drafting the enabling legislation that would officially establish the Department of Water Resources and lobbying for the huge supplemental congressional appropriation to finance the research and development of iceberg recovery methods.
Using refined fuel in this supplemental tank requires less than one percent of the total fuel supply for the newer vehicle and keeps the fuel pump and filter full of refined fuel when the equipment is shut off.
Not only had barrels of beef and bread been given away to make room for the far more valuable sperm, but additional supplemental casks had been bartered for, from the ships she had met.
In the heat of midafternoon they needed no supplemental attire, though each wore a compact humidifier over their breathing spicules.
He looked around, saw no one looking his way, poured fake maple syrup into his coffee, slurped it, and looked around again for his supplemental bacon.
I'm giving you a supplemental ration card for him, as well, which will entitle him to extra foodstuffs while you are here.
The Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), school breakfast and lunch programmes, the Summer Food Service Program - all have been shown to work, although they do not get to all the people who need them.
We've got less than a hundred kilos of barleyrice left, and our diet supplementals get a little lower every day.