purpose
noun OPAL WOPAL S
/ˈpɜːpəs/
/ˈpɜːrpəs/
Idioms - [countable] the intention, aim or function of something; the thing that something is supposed to achieve
意图；目的；用途；目标 - Our campaign's main purpose is to raise money.
我们这次活动的主要目的就是募款。 - The plan achieved its primary purpose, if nothing else.
别的不说，这个方案起码实现了其初衷。 - The purpose of the book is to provide a complete guide to the university.
本书旨在全面介绍这所大学。 - Giving too much advance notice would defeat the purpose of the inspection.
提前通知太多会破坏检查的目的。 - for the purpose of doing something A meeting was called for the purpose of appointing a new treasurer.
为任命新财务主管而召开了一次会议。 - I moved to London for the sole purpose of working with her.
我搬到伦敦的唯一目的就是和她一起工作。 - for the purpose of something I have included this data for the purpose of comparison.
我把这些数据包括在内是为了比较。 - with the purpose of doing something This project was launched with the purpose of increasing the number of visitors to the region.
这个项目的启动是为了增加该地区的游客数量。 - purpose for something I could find no practical purpose for this app.
我找不到这个应用程序的实际用途。 - The space station serves several purposes.
空间站有几个用途。 - The experiments serve no useful purpose (= are not useful).
这些实验毫无用处。
Synonyms purposepurpose- aim
- intention
- plan
- point
- idea
- purpose what something is supposed to achieve; what somebody is trying to achieve:
- Our campaign’s main purpose is to raise money.
我们这次活动的主要目的是募款。
- Our campaign’s main purpose is to raise money.
- aim what somebody is trying to achieve; what something is supposed to achieve:
- She went to London with the aim of finding a job.
她去伦敦是为了找工作。 - Our main aim is to increase sales in Europe.
我们的主要目标是增加在欧洲的销售量。
- She went to London with the aim of finding a job.
用 purpose 还是 aim？ - intention what you intend to do:
- I have no intention of going to the wedding.
我无意去参加婚礼。 - She’s full of good intentions but they rarely work out.
她虽然处处出于善意，却很少行的通。
- I have no intention of going to the wedding.
- plan what you intend to do or achieve:
- There are no plans to build new offices.
现在没有建新办公楼的计划。
- There are no plans to build new offices.
用 intention 还是 plan？ - point (rather informal) the purpose or aim of something:
指意图、目的、理由： - What’s the point of all this violence?
这些暴行的意图何在？ - The point of the lesson is to compare the two countries.
本课的目的是比较这两个国家。
- What’s the point of all this violence?
- idea (rather informal) the purpose of something; somebody’s aim:
指目的、意图： - The whole idea of going was so that we could meet her new boyfriend.
我们去的唯一目的就是要见她的新男朋友。 - What’s the idea behind this?
这背后的意图是什么？
- The whole idea of going was so that we could meet her new boyfriend.
用 point 还是 idea？ - with the purpose/aim/intention/idea of doing something
- somebody’s intention/plan to do something
- to have a(n) purpose/aim/intention/plan/point
- to achieve/fulfil a(n) purpose/aim
- The school was founded with the express purpose of teaching deaf children to speak.
学校创建时就有明确目的，即教耳聋的孩子学说话。 - a measure introduced for the purpose of protecting the interests of investors
为保护投资者的利益而采取的措施 - I put the chair there for a purpose.
我特意把椅子放在那儿。 - a toy with the dual purpose of entertaining and developing memory skills
具有娱乐与开发记忆双重功能的玩具 - The old mill has been put to good purpose.
老磨坊发挥了很好的用途。 - the view that art should serve a social purpose
艺术应该为社会服务的观点 - The same information can be put to many purposes.
相同的信息可以有多种用途。 - The drug can be sold for medicinal purposes only.
这种药只用作医疗药品出售。 - He did not want anything to distract him from his purpose.
他不想让任何事情转移他的注意力，使他偏离自己的目标。 - She saw being a doctor as her purpose in life.
她曾把从医作为自己的人生目标。
Collocations Dictionaryadjective- limited
- chief
- main
- …
- have
- lack
- accomplish
- …
- for a/the purpose
- on purpose
- at cross purposes
- for the express purpose of something
- with the express purpose of something
- …
- Our campaign's main purpose is to raise money.
- purposes[plural] what is needed in a particular situation
情势的需要 - for… purposes These gifts count as income for tax purposes.
这些礼物应属于纳税的收入。 - The building was originally used for commercial purposes.
这座建筑最初是用于商业目的的。 - for the purposes of something For the purposes of this study, the three groups have been combined.
为了这项研究工作，三个小组业已合并。
- For comparative purposes, the populations of three other cities are also shown.
为便于比较，还显示了另外三个城市的人口。 - Let's assume he knows, for the purposes of our argument.
为了便于论证，我们假设他知道。 - You will need to have the vehicle valued for insurance purposes.
你得找人给车子估价以便购买保险。
- for… purposes These gifts count as income for tax purposes.
- [countable, uncountable] meaning that is important and valuable to you
重要意义；有价值的意义 - Volunteer work gives her life a sense of purpose.
做志愿工作使她的生活有了意义。 - He believes he has finally found a purpose in life.
他相信他终于找到了人生的目标。
- Encouraged by her example, they all set to work with a fresh sense of purpose.
在她的榜样的鼓舞下，他们都怀着新的使命感投入到工作中。 - a group of individuals sharing a common purpose
目的相同的一群人 - Teachers need to give a purpose to the activities and assignments they give to students.
教师给学生布置活动和作业要有目的性。
Collocations Dictionaryadjective- limited
- chief
- main
- …
- have
- lack
- accomplish
- …
- for a/the purpose
- on purpose
- at cross purposes
- for the express purpose of something
- with the express purpose of something
- …
- Volunteer work gives her life a sense of purpose.
- [uncountable] the ability to plan something and work successfully to achieve it
意志；毅力；决心 - He has enormous confidence and strength of purpose.
他信心十足，意志坚强。
Collocations Dictionaryadjective- limited
- chief
- main
- …
- have
- lack
- accomplish
- …
- for a/the purpose
- on purpose
- at cross purposes
- for the express purpose of something
- with the express purpose of something
- …
see also cross purposes - He has enormous confidence and strength of purpose.
词源Middle English: from Old French porpos, from the verb porposer, variant of proposer, from Latin proponere ‘set forth’ (from pro- ‘forward’ + ponere ‘put’).
Idioms
fit for purpose
- (of an institution, a system, a thing, etc.) suitable for the function or purpose that it was designed for
（机构、体系、事物等）符合设计原意的，具有适当功能的 - The minister argued that the education system wasn’t fit for purpose.
部长认为教育系统不符合目的。 - The new executive flats are fully equipped and fit for purpose.
新的行政公寓设备齐全，适合居住。 - I returned the goods as they weren’t fit for purpose.
我退货了，因为它们不合用途。
- The minister argued that the education system wasn’t fit for purpose.
for (all) practical purposes
- used when you are stating what the reality of a situation is
事实上；其实 - There's still another ten minutes of the game to go, but for practical purposes it's already over.
比赛虽然还有十分钟，但实际上等于已经结束了。
- There's still another ten minutes of the game to go, but for practical purposes it's already over.
on purpose
- not by accident; deliberately
故意；有意地 - He did it on purpose, knowing it would annoy her.
他明知会激怒她，却故意那么做。 - He slammed the door on purpose.
他故意把门砰的一声关上了。
- He did it on purpose, knowing it would annoy her.
to all intents and purposes (especially British English)
(North American English usually for all intents and purposes)
- in the effects that something has, if not in reality; almost completely
几乎完全；差不多等于 - By 1981 the docks had, to all intents and purposes, closed.
到 1981 年，这些码头几乎等于关闭了。 - The two items are, for all intents and purposes, identical.
这两个项目实际上是相同的。
- By 1981 the docks had, to all intents and purposes, closed.
to little/no purpose
- (formal) with little/no useful effect or result
作用不大；徒劳 - The government had spent a lot on education but to little or no purpose.
政府在教育上花了很多钱，但收效甚微或毫无用处。
- The government had spent a lot on education but to little or no purpose.