purposepur‧pose /ˈpɜːpəs $ ˈpɜːr-/ ●●● S2 W2 noun 
The purpose of this meeting is to elect a new chairman. What is the purpose of your visit?the purpose of doing something The purpose of conducting a business is to make money.for the purpose of doing something Troops were sent solely for the purpose of assisting refugees.for medical/political/decorative etc purposes It should be legitimate to use cannabis for medical purposes.sole/primary/main etc purpose The protection of children is the primary purpose of this legislation.serve a purpose (=achieve something) It would serve no useful purpose to re-open the investigation.2[countable] a plan or aim: Nick had no particular purpose in mind when he started.somebody’s purpose in doing something Attending the race was not my purpose in coming to Indianapolis.with the purpose of doing something He came here with the purpose of carrying out the attack.3for ... purposes in a particular situation or when being considered in a particular way: For tax purposes, you will be treated as a married couple. The details are, for the present purposes, irrelevant.for the purposes of something For the purposes of this book, America is taken to include the continent north of Mexico.4on purpose deliberatelydo something on purpose You make it sound as if I did it on purpose!5feeling [uncountable] a feeling of determination to achieve things in life: It’s so important to have a sense of purpose that it underlies human happiness. My football career was over and I had no purpose in life. He possessed great strength of purpose.6for 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.7serve 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.8defeat 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).9to no purpose formal without any useful results: She called after them, but to no purpose.10to the purpose old-fashioned useful or helpful → purposely, cross-purposesCOLLOCATIONS– Meanings 1 & 2adjectivesthe main/primary purpose· The main purpose of our trip to Arran was to see golden eagles.the sole purpose· I used to bake cakes for the sole purpose of giving them away.the real purpose· What was the real purpose of their visit?the whole purpose (=used for emphasis)· The whole purpose of running a business is to make money.something’s original purpose· The building is no longer needed for its original purpose.a useful purpose· Nuclear weapons serve no useful purpose and should be banned.a practical purpose· These materials are too fine to have a practical purpose in daily life.a dual purpose (=two purposes)· A dog can fulfil a dual purpose by providing both company and security.a common purpose (=one that people share)· We were bound together by a common purpose.a specific/particular purpose· Training is the acquisition of knowledge and skills for a specific purpose.phrasesfor political/military/educational/medicinal etc purposes· This technology could be used for military purposes.for business/research etc purposes· About one in five of all trips are made for business purposes.verbshave a purpose· A meeting should have a clear purpose.serve/fulfil a purpose (=be used in a particular way)· The building must have served a religious purpose.· Many old school buildings are no longer suitable for fulfilling their original purpose.achieve your purpose (=achieve what you wanted to achieve)· She had achieved her purpose, at least in part.THESAURUSpurpose the reason you do something, and the thing you want to achieve when you do it: · What is the purpose of your visit to England?· The plant is used for medicinal purposes.aim what you want to achieve when you do something: · The main aims of the project are as follows.· Their ultimate aim is to find a cure for cancer.goal something that you hope to achieve in the future, even though this may take a long time: · It took Mandela over forty years to achieve his goal of a democratic South Africa.· the goal of ending child povertyobjective something that you are working hard to achieve, especially in business or politics: · The bank achieved its objective of increasing its share of the market.· The government’s long-term objective is to cut CO2 emissions by 50%.the object of something formal the specific purpose of an activity: · The object of the game is to get as many points as possible.· The students will benefit, and that must be the object of the exercise (=the main thing that you are trying to do).the point the purpose of doing something and the reason why it is right or necessary: · At fourteen, I couldn’t see the point of going to school.· What’s the point in waiting? (=I don’t think it is useful or necessary)intention the purpose that you have in your mind when you do something: · He kept his real intentions well hidden.· Although we made a lot of money, this wasn’t our original intention.ends the result that someone is trying to achieve – used especially when you disapprove of what someone is doing: · They are using religion for political ends.· The ends do not justify the means (=you should not use violence, cruelty, dishonest behaviour etc to achieve your aims).
WORD ORIGINpurpose
Origin:
1200-1300 Old French purpos, from purposer ‘to intend’, from Latin proponere; ➔ PROPOUNDEXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- My purpose in writing this book was to draw attention to the problem of global warming.
- Read up on starting a small business. Loans can be obtained for this purpose.
- The purpose of the experiment is to find better ways of treating battlefield wounds.
- The games have an educational purpose.
- The group's purpose is to help disabled teenagers have fun and meet new friends.
- The main purpose of the meeting is to discuss who will be in the team.
- There is no penalty if the quarterback deliberately throws the ball out of bounds for the purpose of stopping play.
- Defining that role is the main purpose of this chapter.
- He always handled such events with the same purpose.
- Its body is dedicated to this one purpose.
- The arbitrariness of this classification is well illustrated when an individual chooses, for tax purposes, to be regarded as self-employed.
- The central purpose is to hammer out long-term strategies for the nation as a whole.
- The ritual done, we settle at last into fulfilling the purpose of this expedition.
- This year, the picnic has a solemn purpose.
THESAURUS
the reason you do something, and the thing you want to achieve when you do it: · What is the purpose of your visit to England?· The plant is used for medicinal purposes.
what you want to achieve when you do something: · The main aims of the project are as follows.· Their ultimate aim is to find a cure for cancer.
something that you hope to achieve in the future, even though this may take a long time: · It took Mandela over forty years to achieve his goal of a democratic South Africa.· the goal of ending child poverty
something that you are working hard to achieve, especially in business or politics: · The bank achieved its objective of increasing its share of the market.· The government’s long-term objective is to cut CO2 emissions by 50%.
formal the specific purpose of an activity: · The object of the game is to get as many points as possible.· The students will benefit, and that must be the object of the exercise (=the main thing that you are trying to do).
the purpose of doing something and the reason why it is right or necessary: · At fourteen, I couldn’t see the point of going to school.· What’s the point in waiting? (=I don’t think it is useful or necessary)
the purpose that you have in your mind when you do something: · He kept his real intentions well hidden.· Although we made a lot of money, this wasn’t our original intention.
the result that someone is trying to achieve – used especially when you disapprove of what someone is doing: · They are using religion for political ends.· The ends do not justify the means (=you should not use violence, cruelty, dishonest behaviour etc to achieve your aims).
Longman Language Activatorwhat you want to achieve when you do something the reason you do or plan something, and the thing you want to achieve when you do it: · The games have an educational purpose.purpose of: · The purpose of the experiment is to find better ways of treating battlefield wounds.the main purpose (=the most important purpose): · The main purpose of the meeting is to discuss who will be in the team.somebody's purpose in doing something: · My purpose in writing this book was to draw attention to the problem of global warming.for the purpose of (doing) something: · There is no penalty if the quarterback deliberately throws the ball out of bounds for the purpose of stopping play.for this/that purpose: · Read up on starting a small business. Loans can be obtained for this purpose.
something you hope to achieve: · Increasing student awareness of the issue is one of our aims.political/business/economic etc aim: · Membership of NATO is one of the country's long-term political aims.the aim is to do something: · The organization's aims are to provide food for homeless people and help them find somewhere to live.· The aim was to enroll all children in schools close to their homes.aim of: · The aim of the bombers was to destroy public property and get maximum publicity.
the purpose of something that you are doing or planning - use this especially when someone does not understand what the purpose is: point of: · The point of the experiment is to show how this chemical reacts with water.the whole point (=exactly the purpose of doing something): · The whole point of this TV show is to get you to buy Simmons' exercise videos.see the point of something (=understand why someone does something): · I can't see the point of travelling all that way and then only staying for one day.miss the/somebody's point (=not understand why someone does something): · You're missing my point completely - I'm not talking about restructuring the departmentwhat's the point? (=use this when you think there is no good reason for something): · Too many of these kids think, "What's the point of going to college?"
the effect or result that you hope to achieve by doing something - use this especially when you are doubtful whether that effect or result can be achieved: · We make toys that are both fun and educational - at least that's the idea.the idea is to do something: · The idea of the centre was to provide a place where old people could go during the day.the idea behind something: · The idea behind the commercials is that reading is as cool and entertaining as their favorite bands.
formal the thing that someone is trying to achieve, especially in business or politics: · The report focused on three of the business's objectives.business/military/political objective: · State your business objectives clearly.the objective is to do something: · The objective of this computer game is to design a city.achieve an objective: · The President believes that all military objectives have been achieved.main/primary objective: · The company's main objective is to keep recyclable material out of landfills.
the intended result of a plan, action, or activity, especially when this may be difficult to achieve: the object is to do something: · In this game the object is to score as many points as you can in the time given.object of: · The object of the search was to find a small plane that has been missing for two days.the object of the exercise (=the object of whatever you are doing): · The object of the exercise is to keep kids in school, rather than let them leave without graduating.
what a person, organization, or country hopes to achieve in the future, even though this might take quite a long time: · School children have definite goals towards which they can work.the goal is to do something: · Her goal is to find a company willing to donate money for research.goal of: · The goal of the partnership is to improve his company's profit margin.reach/meet a goal: · The Red Cross has reached its goal of raising $1.6 million for relief.
the exact result that a person or organization intends to achieve by doing something, often the amount of money they want to get: · The target for the appeal is £20,000, all of which will go to children's charities.· Our target is the release of all political prisoners.meet/reach/achieve a target: · The government is struggling to reach its original target of $23 billion in spending cuts.
the result that a person or group is trying to achieve, especially when this is bad or dishonest: political/personal etc ends: · Racial tensions in Fiji were exaggerated for political ends by leaders of the opposition.the end does not justify the means (=the way that someone tries to achieve something is wrong, even if what they want to achieve is good): · The demonstrators' ends do not justify their means.
what something is intended to be used for to be intended to be used for a particular purpose: · This machine is for cleaning the carpet.· What's this little button for?· These shoes are for running, and these are for sports such as basketball.
the purpose that a machine, tool, or piece of equipment is made for: · Each basket is designed to perform a specific function, from carrying corn to holding babies.function of: · Several instructors could not answer questions about the function of a particular switch.· The function of this gene is to block the uncontrolled division of cells; it therefore prevents the development of cancer.
a purpose that a machine, tool, plant etc can have: · It's main use is as a cleaning agent for metals.· Technology developed for the space program has civilian uses as well.
to be intended for a particular purpose to be done or made for a particular purpose, especially when the purpose is not achieved: · His artworks are meant to cause debate.· The police opened the package and found not a bomb, but a wallet meant to be someone's gift.· Thirty percent of the lottery ticket sales was supposed to go to education.
to be done or made for a particular purpose: · The concert is intended to raise money for charity.· I didn't think the movie was as dramatic as it was intended to be.
to be made in a specific way in order to achieve a particular result: · The menu was designed to appeal to both children and adults.· Democrats say the law is designed to help only wealthy taxpayers.
if something is done with the aim of achieving something, it is done in order to try and achieve it: · The center does research with the aim of improving the lives of poor Americans.· The committee will reform the tests, with the aim of better evaluating student performance.with the express/deliberate etc aim of doing something: · We ask students to write essays under examination conditions, with the deliberate aim of familiarizing them with these conditions.
to decide to use someone or something for a particular purpose to officially choose someone or something for a particular purpose, often with the result that they cannot be used for anything else: · Designate a driver who won't be drinking before going to a party or club.designate somebody/something as something: · Mattos Elementary has been designated as this area's "home" school.designate somebody/something for somebody/something: · One of the queues was designated for people with an EC passport.designate somebody/something to do something: · $6 million has been designated to make road safety improvements on Pacheco Pass.
to choose someone or something from among a larger group so that they can be used for a particular purpose in the future: earmark somebody/something for something: · 20% of the budget has already been earmarked for a new computer system.earmark somebody/something to do something: · The funds are earmarked to help pay for the cathedral's renovation.earmark somebody/something as something: · Dawson was earmarked as Reiner's successor as District Attorney.
without any purpose something that is pointless has no purpose and makes you angry or sad: · a film full of pointless violence· Never give your students pointless exercises to do -- always provide interesting, meaningful tasks.be pointless to do something: · It is pointless to argue about who is more to blame.
not having any purpose or plan and therefore boring or sad: · The novel seems aimless, and the characters are stereotypes.· She changed from an aimless, pregnant teenager into a purposeful young woman.
a crime or something bad that is senseless seems to have no meaning or purpose and you cannot understand why someone would do it: · It was a senseless and cruel murder.· Smashing up trains is such a senseless form of vandalism.· The suicide was described as a senseless waste of a young woman's life.
without any meaning or purpose and therefore boring, sad, or having no effect: · a meaningless campaign pledge· So many of us spend our lives doing meaningless work in huge faceless companies.· Several companies dismissed the ruling as "meaningless," saying it would have no effect on their operations.
also lack of direction if something lacks direction or has a lack of direction , it does not have a clear purpose and is not well organized: · It could have been a good film, but I felt it lacked direction.· He quit over the company's lack of direction.
deliberately if you do something deliberately , you do it because you want to do it, and you hope it will have a particular result or effect: · She left the letter there deliberately so that you'd see it.· Police believe the fire was started deliberately.· Rogers was dismissed from the army for deliberately disobeying an order.· I think he was deliberately ignoring me.
spoken if you do something on purpose , you do it deliberately, for example in order to annoy people or to get an advantage for yourself - use this especially about things that are not very important: · I spilled my drink on purpose -- I needed an excuse to leave the room.· Will always pronounces my name wrong. Do you think he does it on purpose?· Is he really that dumb or is he acting that way on purpose?
if you do something intentionally , you do it deliberately - use this especially about actions that are wrong or illegal: · The jury had to decide whether he killed John Bishop intentionally or whether it was an accident.· The mayor denied intentionally misleading the public and proclaimed his innocence.· The article is intentionally provocative and looks likely to cause a stir.
if you knowingly do something wrong or illegal, you do it even though you know it is wrong: · If any employee knowingly breaks the terms of this contract they will be dismissed immediately.· Stansfield would never have knowingly become involved in political espionage.
if you do something consciously , you do it carefully and you think about it as you are doing it, especially because you know what the result of your actions might be: · I don't think she was consciously trying to hurt your feelings.· Most school teachers do not consciously discriminate between their students.
British /willfully American if you wilfully do something, you do it deliberately or do not try to stop it even though you know it is wrong or it will cause harm -- used especially in legal contexts: · The mother could face a charge of wilfully neglecting her children.· The defendants were convicted of wilfully promoting racial hatred.· The new evidence was either not available or was willfully ignored.
said or done in a way that will make other people notice you, especially to show them that you think they should do something: · Miss Phillips looked at the clock pointedly and I realized that it was time for me to leave.· The shopkeeper made a rude comment about shoplifters and looked pointedly at the boy standing next to me.
to deliberately do something because you think it is important to do it, or because you want other people to notice that you have done it: make a point of doing something: · Kramer made a point of looking very bored while the colonel was speaking.· You should make a point of arriving fifteen minutes early at the office every morning -- show that you're keen.make a point of something: · "Did you complain about it?'' "Yes, I made a point of it.''
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY Meanings 1 & 2adjectives Churchill’s clarity of vision impressed all who knew him. Don’t let your arms relax as that would defeat the object of the exercise. The bridge has a dual role, carrying both road and rail. The school was founded with the express purpose of teaching deaf children. He was released from prison on humanitarian grounds. For illustrative purposes, only a simple example is given here. The ostensible reason for his resignation was ill health. Their primary objective is to make money. A large cardboard box will serve the purpose.
· The main purpose of our trip to Arran was to see golden eagles.
· I used to bake cakes for the sole purpose of giving them away.
· What was the real purpose of their visit?
(=used for emphasis)· The whole purpose of running a business is to make money.
· The building is no longer needed for its original purpose.
· Nuclear weapons serve no useful purpose and should be banned.
· These materials are too fine to have a practical purpose in daily life.
(=two purposes)· A dog can fulfil a dual purpose by providing both company and security.
(=one that people share)· We were bound together by a common purpose.
· Training is the acquisition of knowledge and skills for a specific purpose.
phrases· This technology could be used for military purposes.
· About one in five of all trips are made for business purposes.
verbs· A meeting should have a clear purpose.
(=be used in a particular way)· The building must have served a religious purpose.· Many old school buildings are no longer suitable for fulfilling their original purpose.
(=achieve what you wanted to achieve)· She had achieved her purpose, at least in part.
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES Churchill’s clarity of vision impressed all who knew him.· Commercial considerations must come second to conservation of the environment.
Don’t let your arms relax as that would defeat the object of the exercise. The bridge has a dual role, carrying both road and rail. The school was founded with the express purpose of teaching deaf children. He was released from prison on humanitarian grounds. For illustrative purposes, only a simple example is given here. The ostensible reason for his resignation was ill health.· A Foreign Ministry spokesman stressed that the nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes.
Their primary objective is to make money. (=a feeling that you know what you are trying to achieve)· Becoming a mother had given her a new sense of purpose.
A large cardboard box will serve the purpose.· Their sole purpose was to kill.
(=determination to do something)· In pursuing this ambition, William showed remarkable strength of purpose.
· It suited her purpose to let him believe the lie.
(=be useful)· Sending her to prison would serve no useful purpose.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADJECTIVE· Its presence here has a different purpose.· We are accustomed to see it placed, for different purposes, in different hands.· The book describes ways of going about setting up a variety of programmes with different purposes.· It would give people and organizations a range of appropriate currencies to use for different purposes.· Each group is used for a different purpose, to inactivate bacteria or block the action of viruses, for example.· They are very different in their purpose: the women and the ventriloquist's dummy.· This range varies for different purposes, but the aim is always to make it as wide as possible.
· This was a Baptist church in an inner city area with a modern dual purpose building surrounded by high-rise local authority dwellings.· This is a dual purpose crop.· We ask both groups to be aware that the paths have a dual purpose and to show consideration for each other.· It fulfils a dual educational purpose.· This visit made apparent the dual purpose of the scheme - of accountability and professional development.· The dual purposes of this chapter are to describe and explain this major division in the distribution of resources in old age.· This is a difficult question to deal with partly because of the dual purpose of the entire exercise.· This is a dual purpose exercise which develops the strength in your legs and the flexibility in your shoulders.
· His general purpose was to humanize prison conditions and to provide prisoners with opportunities for personal reformation.· Since the budgets of all governmental agencies have the same general purpose, certain similarities exist in their forms.· From a strategic perspective, management will usually need intelligence for two general purposes: environmental scanning and competitor analysis.· Maxxam said it would use the proceeds for general corporate purposes, including repayment of debt.· Although in theory Postscript could be viewed as a general purpose programming language, it is strongly biassed towards visual representation.· Everything was housed in general purpose tents.· Fig 1: Three types of crampon points - a curved lobster claw b general purpose c straight lobster claw.· Government officials said the proceeds would be used for general financing purposes.
· The main purpose of this elaborate system was almost certainly profit for the king.· The main purpose of Levin's article, however, is to reclaim Debord for the aesthetic discourse of avant-garde cinema.· The main purpose of the pro-am has nothing to do with golf.· The main purpose of these pads is to give the water a final polish and continuous use is not really obligatory.· But the main purpose of our trip to Arran was to see the golden eagle.· The main purpose of these beacons is: 1.· The main purpose of the list is to illustrate complexity and variety of political-economic and physical circumstances of soil erosion.· The objects and objectives of an enterprise Every business organisation has its objectives - ie. its main purpose for being in existence.
· A well built unit can always be used for other purposes should your venture not come up to expectation.· Substantial payments were made out of the Forest revenues for these and other purposes relating to the maintenance and upkeep of the castle.· From the beginning, though, children should be learning to write in other forms and for other purposes.· The knowledge obtained from solutions that are put into the eye for other purposes is considerably valuable.· Such a large Survey would of course serve many other governmental purposes.· The machinery is so specialist that it can not be used for any other purpose.
· Their value is determined by your particular purpose or essay.· Further, the buyer must have made known to the seller the particular purpose for which he was buying the goods.· Economists have usually held that trying to tie a government's hands to spend in line with revenue raised for particular purposes is impossible.· Of what value is the evidence for our particular purposes?· It never occurred to me that these two hard chairs were kept for a particular purpose.· Since such orders are not the product of a directing intelligence they can not be said to have a particular purpose.· The point here is that institutions are useful only if they have been designed to achieve a particular purpose.· The particular purpose is to assess the effects of private and State employment strategies upon the town's population and culture.
· The symbolism which these involved, and which was indeed their essence, was frequently manipulated for political purposes.· But as the holiday has gained popularity over the years, Munoz worries that the political purpose has been forgotten.· Hariri has been generous beyond narrow political purposes.· The balance was legitimate expenditure for primarily political purposes, Flynn has contended.· No payments were made for political purposes.· On this occasion, the smooth display of pomp was meant to serve a deeper political purpose.· Yet the temptation to use the Games for political purposes remains irresistible.· It was a question of how he believed he could best attain his major political purposes.
· Polarising windows are inadequate to give selectivity for most practical purposes, and barrier membranes must be used.· For all practical purposes, these securities are risk free.· For all practical purposes, the Holy Spirit could be discounted.· It is essential for that knowledge to be put into practical and useful purposes.· When the restoration is complete, Woodchester will have a practical purpose.· For all practical purposes, the Army of the Potomac was on its own.· Beneath the wealth of statuary and architectural ornament, such monuments usually had a practical purpose.· It involves the use of celestial recurrences for the practical purpose of regulating daily activity.
· I will re-present Eikmeyer's model here, with adaptations for the present purpose.· In what follows, we shall narrow the scope of the term to something more adapted to the present purpose.· For present purposes it is important for three reasons. 1.· The contrast seems to me, for present purposes, to be a very useful one.· But we have said enough for present purposes.· For present purposes there are in my judgment two streams of authority relating to moneys wrongly extracted by way of impost.· For present purposes we can conclude that Trotsky looked to proletarian democracy as a defence against bureaucratization.· Conversely, a body may be styled a tribunal and yet be a court for present purposes.
· Their primary purpose is the conservative one of helping to sustain and maintain the existing order of things.· Angiletta said the primary purpose of the web site was to keep the public informed about legislation to protect children from predators.· The primary purpose must, always, be to sell the product.· Laboratory tests have two primary purposes, one of which is to detect marginal nutritional deficiencies.· The primary purpose of the proposed research will be to acquire detailed knowledge about how the new Act will operate.· The lawyer is dishonest-he claims that justice, service to mankind is his primary purpose.· Their primary purpose is to speed up browsing.· It is the primary purpose of this chapter to correct what I view as an imbalance in this respect.
· Now that he was working and studying with real purpose, he had a problem.· They have to be tendentious and have real purpose.· And when they are listening in this way to check their theories they have a real purpose in listening.· What was the real purpose of the visit?· He doesn't understand what it is to have real purpose, or peace.· The real purpose of the tax code is to supply tax breaks for politicians to auction off to campaign contributors.· His real purpose was to further the cause of Roman Catholicism.· It is as though their own real purpose were to find a proper excuse to take their own lives.
· Their sole purpose was to kill, by any means, provided the end result was the death of the chosen victim.· The sole purpose of marriage, then, is to bear and raise kids?· From then on, many changed banks, with the sole purpose of giving their previous firm a run for its money.· The whole school seemed to have been designed with the sole purpose of freezing all the pupils to death.· Her sole purpose in being here was to kill some time.· That is their sole purpose - to strengthen desirable behaviour.· Various parties pursued conflicting objectives, often making tenuous alliances with each other for the sole purpose of expediency.· What a doctor can not do is administer a drug for which the sole purpose is to end life.
· Belbin's description of team roles has proved to be very useful, especially in creating teams for specific purposes.· The statement of purpose should open with one statement followed by several shorter very specific statements of purpose.· Research is an active and formally organised search for specific information for a specific purpose.· The proposal serves as a guide to the hypothesis testing process which embodies the specific purpose of the study effort.· It is always difficult estimating the room you will need unless you are having the greenhouse built for a specific purpose.· It is brought into existence precisely to enable a specific purpose to be realised.· There is now only the one pool, which he designed with the specific purpose of encouraging Koi-keepers with limited space.· The business group will seek legislation allowing local governments to tax for specific purposes only.
· Right: Batsford products are based on real bits of wood; or serve a useful fishkeeping purpose.· Brand names serve a useful purpose, not just for the producer but for the consumer as well.· It is perhaps in the field of attribution that this catalogue serves the most useful purpose.· Therefore, s.64 would no longer serve a useful purpose.· However, critics such as Michael Steiner, a Chula Vista parent, question whether the test serves any useful purpose.· But adverse planetary influences invariably serve a useful purpose - and never more so than right now.
NOUN· Moreover, incorporation itself would involve a cessation for income tax purposes.· The property they own has an assessed valuation for tax purposes of $ 1. 6 billion.· Cohabiting couples are not eligible for Married Couple's Allowance, and for tax purposes are regarded as two single people.· This tax on bank deposits is not deductible for tax purposes.· It is not essential for an organisation to be registered with the Charity Commission to qualify as a charity for tax purposes.· Also record the pay figure for tax purposes on the P11 and P14.· Use the value of the land declared by the landlord for tax purposes as the basis of compensation for expropriated land.· The sale will also be treated as a disposal for capital gains tax purposes.
VERB· In general, however, the scheme has been successful and has achieved the purposes for which it was instituted.· When I die, I can, if I am lucky, die knowing that I have achieved my purposes.· A group is a collection of individual people who come together to achieve some purpose.· They concentrate ori mobilizing and deploying capital, labor, and technology to achieve desired purposes.· The plotter had achieved his purpose.· Program evaluation is concerned specifically with determining the worth or values of efforts expended to achieve a given purpose or objective.· A prudential practice is instrumental in nature, being designed to achieve a specific substantive purpose.· But groups can employ a variety of strategies to achieve this purpose.
· It is always difficult estimating the room you will need unless you are having the greenhouse built for a specific purpose.· I wanted to build a modest building for such a purpose, but there was an uproar.· But first we had to heat up the tyre in the oven we'd built on purpose to do this.· Timber used on building sites for construction purposes such as shuttering and formers is usually discarded - often just burnt.· But now it looks to me like the River Rouge plant, built for a purpose long obsolete.
· Detailed guidelines defeat the very purpose of guidelines. which is to allow considerable local flexibility and adjustment.· This, of course, defeats the purpose for which the medication is being given.· Inconsistent State practice would only defeat the entire purpose of the convention for a stable regime.· They are defeating the purpose of the Peace Corps and they are unhappy.· Running around in circles and seeing the same old thing defeats half the purpose.· This obviously defeated the purpose of bail, which is to assure that the defendant will appear in court.· But Max's kindness and good manners defeated my purpose totally.· If they become a chore, they defeat the purpose of helping the child to want to interact with you.
· In some ways it serves the same purpose as having a service to recognize the end of mourning.· The outer-space design serves a purpose, too.· Inhibitions are rare except for a bankruptcy inhibition, which serves the same purpose as a land charge in unregistered conveyancing.· It is essential that both wind strength and direction serve your purpose.· It was the sort of exhibition she usually despised, but she knew that nothing less would serve her purpose.· The ones that serve my purpose.
· It must suit the purpose for which it is used.· The czars introduced constitutional guarantees, only to ignore them whenever it suited their purpose.· Hedges are an example of the readiness of ordinary people to bend the language to suit their purposes.· Woman, having no identity of her own as woman, being defined as lack, is eminently suited for this purpose.· Religious bigots have often employed the cunning device of converting other people's heroes into villains, to suit their own purposes.· They would turn him when it suited their purpose.· It would not suit my purpose to get him drunk.· It is up to the practitioner to decide which stance is best suited to a particular purpose.
· In the main, however, the selection procedure is rigorous enough so that basic training does not have to be used for assessment purposes.· Still other badges are used for specific purposes.· Are the premises being used for business purposes?· Or, more handy still, you can use it for denial purposes.· Money when used for this purpose is a means of temporarily storing wealth.· Government officials said the proceeds would be used for general financing purposes.· In general, all visual aids were used for a purpose.
PHRASES FROM THE ENTRY► for ... purposesPHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES► to all intents and purposes
- The midnight-to-5 a.m. curfew has served its purpose of restoring order to the city.
- I felt that after two and a half years, the therapy had served its purpose.
- If not a particularly eloquent or clever contribution, I thought it served its purpose.
- It replicates a course of action that has seemingly served its purposes in the past.
- Opening the front door, he placed the message on the doorstep, praying that it would serve its purpose.
- The handkerchief, having apparently served its purpose, was forgotten.
- This star system has served its purpose.
- Yet somehow that spurious report served its purpose in terms of giving labor unions a weapon to wield against business.
- Doesn't this defeat the purpose of producing fruit in the first place?
- If they become a chore, they defeat the purpose of helping the child to want to interact with you.
- Never remove them and forget to put them back, it defeats the purpose.
- They are defeating the purpose of the Peace Corps and they are unhappy.
- This also eliminates the need to scroll to find data, which would defeat the purpose of having a command centre.
- This anxiety will cause tension which defeats the purpose of the exercise.
- This obviously defeated the purpose of bail, which is to assure that the defendant will appear in court.
- This, of course, defeats the purpose for which the medication is being given.
- The negotiations lasted for days, apparently to no purpose.
- Alba was empty enough of men to govern and serve, without throwing them away to no purpose.
- She called after them to no purpose.
- The chariot moves back and forth, he wrote, but to no purpose.
- Father Peter felt that that embraced all things relating to the purpose of the League.
- The application to the wider community brings us to the purpose of our gathering in this place dedicated to unity.
- The duty only extends to the purpose for which the visitor was allowed entry.
- The management company may be dedicated to the purpose or this activity may be just one of a number of related activities.
- The nature of the assessment should be geared to the purpose of the writing.
- Thus, Ahab is getting closer to the Purpose of his life.
- We arrive at the degree of convergence necessary to the purpose of interaction and no more.
- Fire investigators believe the fire was set on purpose.
- I spilled my drink on purpose -- I needed an excuse to leave the room.
- Is he really that dumb or is he acting that way on purpose?
- Will always pronounces my name wrong. Do you think he does it on purpose?
- Consider in this connection the point I made earlier that comprehension is necessarily incomplete and dependent on purpose.
- He wasn't the kind of bloke to do it on purpose.
- If I throw one up in the zone, it's not on purpose.
- If it was on purpose, the culmination of some evil conspiracy, well of course it will happen again.
- Perhaps she had been dropped on to his path on purpose.
- The first time you step out, whether by accident or on purpose, a warning is imposed.
- Whether on purpose or by mistake, Kimberly was exchanged for the baby who came to be known as Arlena Twigg.
- Yeah, we keep it that way on purpose.
- For all practical purposes, the cleanup of the oil spill is complete.
- For all practical purposes, the country is bankrupt.
- But, for all practical purposes you can say that a wind angle of 60° produces maximum drift.
- Computerized free language indexing is, for all practical purposes, the same as natural language indexing.
- Indeed for all practical purposes he owned us.
- Most of the 54 stories reproduced here, even the previously published ones, were, for all practical purposes, lost.
- The edit display screen can only be used, for all practical purposes, for cutting and pasting.
- Yet for all practical purposes, Windows was Macintosh.
- Administration officials insist the two policies are not at cross-purposes.
- Marijuana was legalized for medicinal purposes.
- I would naturally consider sympathetically any invitation to take part in clinical trials requiring ingestion of whisky for medicinal purposes.
- Last November, voters in California and Arizona passed initiatives which allow the use of pot for medicinal purposes.
- That's what you need - whisky, for medicinal purposes.
- The Physic Garden is planted with examples of herbs used in Medieval times for medicinal purposes.
- These would have been used for both flavouring and for medicinal purposes.
- But, for all practical purposes you can say that a wind angle of 60° produces maximum drift.
- Computerized free language indexing is, for all practical purposes, the same as natural language indexing.
- Indeed for all practical purposes he owned us.
- Most of the 54 stories reproduced here, even the previously published ones, were, for all practical purposes, lost.
- The edit display screen can only be used, for all practical purposes, for cutting and pasting.
- Yet for all practical purposes, Windows was Macintosh.
- Fridays Pray for the Mission Board, that there might be unity and a singleness of purpose.
- Here spoke the man of destiny whose singleness of purpose overrode all other considerations.
- Well-structured courses prevent the sense of singleness of purpose from being dissipated.
- A member is entitled to a judgment that is free from any extraneous or ulterior motive.
- Actually, he invited me out tonight, probably with an ulterior motive.
- An ulterior motive for performing text recognition is to convert existing printed material into a computer format that permits further processing.
- However, for Guangming Ribao, all her appeals to students to end the demonstrations had an ulterior motive.
- It was difficult to accept that Jane had no ulterior motives.
- No ulterior motive lurks behind it, but it keeps you at a distance.
- The legislation pertaining to protection of wetlands and endangered species is clearly being abused by extremists pursuing ulterior motives.
- They look around for other explanations and ulterior motives.
WORD FAMILYnounpurposepurposefulness ≠ purposelessnessadverbpurposefully ≠ purposelesslypurposelyadjectivepurposeful ≠ purposeless
1[countable] the purpose of something is what it is intended to achievepurpose of The purpose of this meeting is to elect a new chairman. What is the purpose of your visit?the purpose of doing something The purpose of conducting a business is to make money.for the purpose of doing something Troops were sent solely for the purpose of assisting refugees.for medical/political/decorative etc purposes It should be legitimate to use cannabis for medical purposes.sole/primary/main etc purpose The protection of children is the primary purpose of this legislation.serve a purpose (=achieve something) It would serve no useful purpose to re-open the investigation.2[countable] a plan or aim: Nick had no particular purpose in mind when he started.somebody’s purpose in doing something Attending the race was not my purpose in coming to Indianapolis.with the purpose of doing something He came here with the purpose of carrying out the attack.3for ... purposes in a particular situation or when being considered in a particular way: For tax purposes, you will be treated as a married couple. The details are, for the present purposes, irrelevant.for the purposes of something For the purposes of this book, America is taken to include the continent north of Mexico.4on purpose deliberatelydo something on purpose You make it sound as if I did it on purpose!5feeling [uncountable] a feeling of determination to achieve things in life: It’s so important to have a sense of purpose that it underlies human happiness. My football career was over and I had no purpose in life. He possessed great strength of purpose.6for 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.7serve 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.8defeat 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).9to no purpose formal without any useful results: She called after them, but to no purpose.10to the purpose old-fashioned useful or helpful → purposely, cross-purposesCOLLOCATIONS– Meanings 1 & 2adjectivesthe main/primary purpose· The main purpose of our trip to Arran was to see golden eagles.the sole purpose· I used to bake cakes for the sole purpose of giving them away.the real purpose· What was the real purpose of their visit?the whole purpose (=used for emphasis)· The whole purpose of running a business is to make money.something’s original purpose· The building is no longer needed for its original purpose.a useful purpose· Nuclear weapons serve no useful purpose and should be banned.a practical purpose· These materials are too fine to have a practical purpose in daily life.a dual purpose (=two purposes)· A dog can fulfil a dual purpose by providing both company and security.a common purpose (=one that people share)· We were bound together by a common purpose.a specific/particular purpose· Training is the acquisition of knowledge and skills for a specific purpose.phrasesfor political/military/educational/medicinal etc purposes· This technology could be used for military purposes.for business/research etc purposes· About one in five of all trips are made for business purposes.verbshave a purpose· A meeting should have a clear purpose.serve/fulfil a purpose (=be used in a particular way)· The building must have served a religious purpose.· Many old school buildings are no longer suitable for fulfilling their original purpose.achieve your purpose (=achieve what you wanted to achieve)· She had achieved her purpose, at least in part.THESAURUSpurpose the reason you do something, and the thing you want to achieve when you do it: · What is the purpose of your visit to England?· The plant is used for medicinal purposes.aim what you want to achieve when you do something: · The main aims of the project are as follows.· Their ultimate aim is to find a cure for cancer.goal something that you hope to achieve in the future, even though this may take a long time: · It took Mandela over forty years to achieve his goal of a democratic South Africa.· the goal of ending child povertyobjective something that you are working hard to achieve, especially in business or politics: · The bank achieved its objective of increasing its share of the market.· The government’s long-term objective is to cut CO2 emissions by 50%.the object of something formal the specific purpose of an activity: · The object of the game is to get as many points as possible.· The students will benefit, and that must be the object of the exercise (=the main thing that you are trying to do).the point the purpose of doing something and the reason why it is right or necessary: · At fourteen, I couldn’t see the point of going to school.· What’s the point in waiting? (=I don’t think it is useful or necessary)intention the purpose that you have in your mind when you do something: · He kept his real intentions well hidden.· Although we made a lot of money, this wasn’t our original intention.ends the result that someone is trying to achieve – used especially when you disapprove of what someone is doing: · They are using religion for political ends.· The ends do not justify the means (=you should not use violence, cruelty, dishonest behaviour etc to achieve your aims).