In the sentence, "Rita found her cat hiding in the closet," what is the direct object?

cat

Explanation:

Direct object is simply defined as the noun or pronoun which is the receiver of a certain action in a sentence.

From the statement " Rita found her cat hiding in the closet", we can deduce that the one who receives the action is the cat.

Therefore, the direct object is the cat.

cutting down of the rainforest