See Also: all-purpose(dictionary)
purpose(dictionary)
purpose(1)(dictionary)
purpose(2)(dictionary)
Purpose loan(finance)
Purpose credit(finance)
Non-purpose loan(finance)
Purpose statement(finance)
Special Purpose Value(money)
Purpose statement(money)

purpose (oh)



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1
2 purposes
3
4 on purpose
5 ?feeling?
6 for all practical purposes
7 serve its purpose
8 defeat the purpose
9 to no purpose
10 to the purpose
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[Date: 1200-1300; Language: Old French; Origin: purpos, from purposer 'to intend', from Latin proponere; PROPOUND]
[C usually singular] the purpose of something is what it is intended to achieve
purpose of
::The purpose of this meeting is to elect a new chairman.
::What is the purpose of your visit?
the purpose of doing sth
::The purpose of conducting a business is to make money.
for/with the purpose of doing sth
::Troops were sent solely for the purpose of assisting refugees.
::He came here with the purpose of carrying out the attack.
sole/primary/main etc purpose
::The protection of children is the primary purpose of this legislation.
purposes [plural] the reasons that explain why something is needed or why it is considered in a particular way
::Several of the items had religious purposes .
for medical/political/decorative etc purposes
::It should be legitimate to use cannabis for medical purposes.
::For tax purposes , you will be treated as a married couple.
::The details are, for the present purposes , irrelevant.
for the purposes of sth
::For the purposes of this book, America is taken to include the continent north of Mexico.
[C] a plan or aim
::Nick had no particular purpose in mind when he started.
sb's purpose in doing sth
::Attending the race was not my purpose in coming to Indianapolis.
serve a purpose
(=achieve a particular aim)
::It would serve no useful purpose to re-open the investigation.
on purpose
deliberately
do sth on purpose
::You make it sound as if I did it on purpose!
?FEELING?
[U] a feeling of determination to achieve things in life
::It's so important to have a sense of purpose that underlies human happiness
::My football career was over and I had no purpose in life .
::He possessed great strength of purpose .
for all practical purposes
also to all intents and purposes
used to say that something is so close to the truth that it can be considered to be the truth
::The war, to all intents and purposes, was over.
::We have a Secretary of State for Scotland who is for all practical purposes a Scottish Prime Minister.
serve its purpose
if something has served its purpose, it has done what you needed it to do
::We delete the data once it has served its purpose.
defeat the purpose
to fail to achieve the result you want
::Anxiety will cause tension, which defeats the purpose of the exercise (=the activity or plan) .
to no purpose
formal without any useful results
::She called after them, but to no purpose.
to the purpose
old-fashioned useful or helpful
-see also purposely , cross-purposes