Target vs. Object — What's the Difference?
By Urooj Arif & Fiza Rafique — Updated on May 4, 2024
Target refers to a goal or point aimed at, often for achievement or attack, while an object is any item that can be seen or touched.
Difference Between Target and Object
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
A target is generally used to describe a goal or endpoint in scenarios such as sports, business, or military contexts, where precision and intention are emphasized. On the other hand, an object encompasses a broader range of physical items, not limited to specific contexts and including everyday things like furniture, tools, or artifacts.
Targets are often abstract, such as the target audience in marketing or the target of a project milestone, emphasizing the focus on objectives and outcomes. Whereas objects are tangible and can be interacted with physically, highlighting their material and practical nature.
In terms of usage, the word "target" is also used as a verb, meaning to aim at or direct efforts towards something specific. In contrast, "object" can function as a noun and a verb, where as a verb it means to express disapproval or opposition.
Targets are frequently involved in performance measurements, where success or failure can be quantitatively assessed against a predetermined goal. Objects, however, are usually the subjects of qualitative assessments, like aesthetics or physical condition.
In discussions of technology and software, a target can refer to the intended recipient of an operation, such as a target device or target file. Objects in this context might refer to instances within object-oriented programming, underlining the distinct ways these terms are applied in technical disciplines.
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Comparison Chart
Definition
A point or mark aimed at for attack or attainment
A material thing that can be seen and touched
Usage as a Verb
Yes (to aim or direct)
Yes (to express disapproval or opposition)
Context
Often goals, projects, or specific aims
Physical, tangible items in various settings
Abstract/Tangible
Usually abstract
Tangible
Common Fields
Business, sports, military
Everyday use, technology, arts
Compare with Definitions
Target
An objective or result aimed for.
Our target for this quarter is to increase sales by 15%.
Object
A grammatical term referring to the entity that is affected by the action of a verb.
In the sentence, 'She loves him,' 'him' is the object.
Target
A person who is the object of criticism or ridicule.
He felt like he was the target of unfair treatment.
Object
Any material thing that can be seen and touched.
The museum displayed ancient objects from the Bronze Age.
Target
Something selected as the aim of an attack.
The military forces bombed the strategic targets.
Object
In programming, an instance of a class containing data and methods associated.
Each object in the software acts independently.
Target
A mark for shooting at.
The archer hit the target in the center.
Object
A person or thing to which a feeling or thought is directed.
She was the main object of his affection.
Target
The intended recipient of an action.
The new policy targets small businesses specifically.
Object
The aim or purpose of an action.
The object of the game is to score the most points.
Target
A person, object, or place selected as the aim of an attack
The airport terminal was the target of a bomb
A military target
Object
A material thing that can be seen and touched
Small objects such as shells
He was dragging a large object
Target
A small round shield or buckler.
Object
A person or thing to which a specified action or feeling is directed
Disease became the object of investigation
He hated being the object of public attention
Target
Select as an object of attention or attack
Two men were targeted by the attackers
Object
A noun or noun phrase governed by an active transitive verb or by a preposition
In Gaelic the word order is verb, subject, object
Target
An object, such as a padded disk with a marked surface, that is shot at to test accuracy in rifle or archery practice.
Object
A data construct that provides a description of anything known to a computer (such as a processor or a piece of code) and defines its method of operation
The interface treats most items, including cells, graphs, and buttons, as objects
Target
Something aimed or fired at.
Object
Say something to express one's opposition to or disagreement with something
‘It doesn't seem natural,’ she objected
The boy's father objected that the police had arrested him unlawfully
Residents object to the volume of traffic
Target
An object of criticism or verbal attack.
Object
A specific, individual, material entity, especially one that is not living or not sentient.
Target
One to be influenced or changed by an action or event
Children were the target of the new advertising campaign.
Object
A focus of attention, feeling, thought, or action
A product that was so bad it became an object of derision.
Target
A desired goal
Achieved our target for quarterly sales.
Object
A limiting factor that must be considered
Since money is no object, let's eat at that fancy place.
Target
A railroad signal that indicates the position of a switch by its color, position, and shape.
Object
The purpose, aim, or goal of a specific action or effort
The object of the game.
Target
The sliding sight on a surveyor's leveling rod.
Object
A noun, pronoun, or noun phrase that receives or is affected by the action of a verb within a sentence.
Target
A small round shield.
Object
A noun or substantive governed by a preposition and typically following it.
Target
A usually metal part in an x-ray tube on which a beam of electrons is focused and from which x-rays are emitted.
Object
(Philosophy) Something intelligible to or perceptible by the mind.
Target
(Biochemistry) A molecule or molecular structure, such as a protein or a nucleic acid, that a drug or other compound interacts with and modulates the activity of.
Object
A discrete item than can be selected and maneuvered, such as an onscreen graphic.
Target
To aim at or identify as a target
Targeted the airport hangar.
Object
In object-oriented programming, a structure that combines data and the procedures necessary to operate on that data.
Target
To identify or treat as the object of action, criticism, or change
Targeted the molecule for study.
Targeted teenagers with the ad campaign.
Object
To present a dissenting or opposing argument; raise an objection
Objected to the testimony of the witness.
Target
To design for or direct toward a specific object or audience
Targeted the ad campaign toward seniors.
Object
To be averse to or express disapproval of something
Objects to modern materialism.
Target
(Biochemistry) To interact with as a target
Drugs that target estrogen receptors.
Object
To put forward in or as a reason for opposition; offer as criticism
They objected that discipline was lacking.
Target
A butt or mark to shoot at, as for practice, or to test the accuracy of a firearm, or the force of a projectile.
Take careful aim at the target.
Object
A thing that has physical existence but is not alive.
Target
A goal or objective.
They have a target to finish the project by November.
Object
; goal, end or purpose of something.
Target
An object of criticism or ridicule.
Object
(grammar) The noun phrase which is an internal complement of a verb phrase or a prepositional phrase. In a verb phrase with a transitive action verb, it is typically the receiver of the action.
Target
A person, place, or thing that is frequently attacked, criticized, or ridiculed.
Object
A person or thing toward which an emotion is directed.
Mary Jane had been the object of Peter's affection for years.
The convertible, once the object of his desire, was now the object of his hatred.
Where's your object of ridicule now?
Target
A kind of small shield or buckler, used as a defensive weapon in war.
Object
(object-oriented programming) An instantiation of a class or structure.
Target
(obsolete) A shield resembling the Roman scutum, larger than the modern buckler.
Object
(category theory) An instance of one of the two kinds of entities that form a category, the other kind being the arrows (also called morphisms).
Similarly, there is a category whose objects are groups and whose arrows are the homomorphisms from one group to another.
Target
(heraldry) A bearing representing a buckler.
Object
(obsolete) Sight; show; appearance; aspect.
Target
(sports) The pattern or arrangement of a series of hits made by a marksman on a butt or mark.
He made a good target.
Object
(intransitive) To disagree with or oppose something or someone; (especially in a Court of Law) to raise an objection.
I object to the proposal to build a new airport terminal.
We strongly object to sending her to jail for ten years.
Target
(surveying) The sliding crosspiece, or vane, on a leveling staff.
Object
To offer in opposition as a criminal charge or by way of accusation or reproach; to adduce as an objection or adverse reason.
Target
(rail transport) A conspicuous disk attached to a switch lever to show its position, or for use as a signal.
Object
To set before or against; to bring into opposition; to oppose.
Target
(cricket) the number of runs that the side batting last needs to score in the final innings in order to win
Object
To set before or against; to bring into opposition; to oppose.
Of less account some knight thereto object,Whose loss so great and harmful can not prove.
Some strong impediment or other objecting itself.
Pallas to their eyesThe mist objected, and condensed the skies.
Target
(linguistics) The tenor of a metaphor.
Object
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.
Others object the poverty of the nation.
The book . . . giveth liberty to object any crime against such as are to be ordered.
Target
(translation studies) The translated version of a document, or the language into which translation occurs.
Do you charge by source or target?
Object
To make opposition in words or argument; to express one's displeasure; - usually followed by to; as, she objected to his vulgar language.
Target
A person (or group of people) that a person or organization is trying to employ or to have as a customer, audience etc.
Object
That which is put, or which may be regarded as put, in the way of some of the senses; something visible or tangible and persists for an appreciable time; as, he observed an object in the distance; all the objects in sight; he touched a strange object in the dark.
Target
A tassel or pendant.
Object
Anything 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."
The object of their bitterest hatred.
Target
A shred; a tatter.
Object
That toward 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; goal; 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.
Let our object be, our country, our whole country, and nothing but our country.
Target
(transitive) To aim something, especially a weapon, at (a target).
Object
Sight; show; appearance; aspect.
He, advancing closeUp to the lake, past all the rest, aroseIn glorious object.
Target
To aim for as an audience or demographic.
The advertising campaign targeted older women.
Object
A word, phrase, or clause toward which an action is directed, or is considered to be directed; as, the object of a transitive verb.
Target
To produce code suitable for.
This cross-platform compiler can target any of several processors.
Object
Any set of data that is or can be manipulated or referenced by a computer program as a single entity; - the term may be used broadly, to include files, images (such as icons on the screen), or small data structures.
Target
A kind of small shield or buckler, used as a defensive weapon in war.
Object
Anything which exists and which has attributes; distinguished from attributes, processes, and relations.
Target
A butt or mark to shoot at, as for practice, or to test the accuracy of a firearm, or the force of a projectile.
Object
Opposed; presented in opposition; also, exposed.
Target
The sliding crosspiece, or vane, on a leveling staff.
Object
A tangible and visible entity; an entity that can cast a shadow;
It was full of rackets, balls and other objects
Target
A conspicuous disk attached to a switch lever to show its position, or for use as a signal.
Object
The goal intended to be attained (and which is believed to be attainable);
The sole object of her trip was to see her children
Target
A tassel or pendent; also, a shred; tatter.
Object
(grammar) a constituent that is acted upon;
The object of the verb
Target
A goal for an activity; as, the target of this year's fundraising drive is 2 million dollars.
Object
The focus of cognitions or feelings;
Objects of thought
The object of my affection
Target
A metallic object toward which a beam of electrons is aimed in a tube designed to generate X-rays; when the electrons strike the target, the impact causes emission of X-rays.
Object
Express or raise an objection or protest or criticism or express dissent;
She never objected to the amount of work her boss charged her with
When asked to drive the truck, she objected that she did not have a driver's license
Target
Any object toward which a beam of photons, a laser beam, an electron beam, or a beam of atomic or subatomic particles is aimed.
Object
Be averse to or express disapproval of;
My wife objects to modern furniture
Target
A person who is the subject of criticism or ridicule.
Target
A reference point to shoot at;
His arrow hit the mark
Target
A person who is the aim of an attack (especially a victim of ridicule or exploitation) by some hostile person or influence;
He fell prey to muggers
Everyone was fair game
The target of a manhunt
Target
The location of the target that is to be hit
Target
Sports equipment consisting of an object set up for a marksman or archer to aim at
Target
The goal intended to be attained (and which is believed to be attainable);
The sole object of her trip was to see her children
Target
Intend (something) to move towards a certain goal;
He aimed his fists towards his opponent's face
Criticism directed at her superior
Direct your anger towards others, not towards yourself
Common Curiosities
What is a target in business?
In business, a target is a specific goal set to achieve, like sales targets or production milestones.
Can the term "target" be used in a non-competitive context?
Yes, "target" can refer to any goal or objective, not just in competitive settings.
How are targets determined in a marketing strategy?
Targets in marketing are determined based on audience analysis, market conditions, and business objectives.
How does the concept of an object differ in everyday use and programming?
In everyday use, an object is a physical item, whereas in programming, it refers to instances of classes in object-oriented programming.
What's the difference between an object's function and its purpose?
Function is the action something performs naturally or by design, whereas purpose is the reason it exists or is used.
Is an object always tangible?
Typically, yes, an object is something physical that can be perceived by the senses.
What is the difference between targeting someone and objecting to something?
Targeting someone involves directing actions towards them, whereas objecting to something is expressing disapproval.
Can objects be both animate and inanimate?
Yes, objects can be animate (like animals) or inanimate (like stones).
Are there ethical considerations in targeting individuals in advertisements?
Yes, ethical considerations include privacy concerns and the appropriateness of the message.
Can an object be a target?
Yes, an object can be a target if it is the point aimed at in various contexts like in sports or exercises.
Why is it important to set targets in management?
Setting targets helps in planning and motivates employees by providing clear goals.
What role do objects play in art?
In art, objects can be subjects of representation or elements of installation and sculpture.
How does using an object as a target affect its perception?
Using an object as a target often focuses attention and actions towards interacting with it in specific ways.
What makes a good target in a project setting?
A good target is specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART).
How do objects enhance learning in educational settings?
Objects can serve as visual aids or tactile tools to enhance understanding and interaction.
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Written by
Urooj ArifUrooj is a skilled content writer at Ask Difference, known for her exceptional ability to simplify complex topics into engaging and informative content. With a passion for research and a flair for clear, concise writing, she consistently delivers articles that resonate with our diverse audience.
Co-written by
Fiza RafiqueFiza Rafique is a skilled content writer at AskDifference.com, where she meticulously refines and enhances written pieces. Drawing from her vast editorial expertise, Fiza ensures clarity, accuracy, and precision in every article. Passionate about language, she continually seeks to elevate the quality of content for readers worldwide.
