on purpose• Consider in this connection the point I made earlier that comprehension is necessarily incomplete and dependenton purpose.• I spilled my drink on purpose -- I needed an excuse to leave the room.• He wasn't the kind of bloke to do it on purpose.• Will always pronounces my name wrong. Do you think he does it on purpose?• If I throw one up in the zone, it's not on purpose.• The first time you step out, whether by accident or on purpose, a warning is imposed.• Perhaps she had been dropped on to his pathon purpose.• Fire investigators believe the fire was set on purpose.• If it was on purpose, the culmination of some evilconspiracy, well of course it will happen again.• Is he really that dumb or is he acting that way on purpose?• Yeah, we keep it that way on purpose.• Whether on purpose or by mistake, Kimberly was exchanged for the baby who came to be known as Arlena Twigg.
5feeling 想法 [uncountableU]PURPOSE a feeling of determination to achieve things in life 〔达到生活目标的〕决心,毅力
It’s so important to have a sense of purpose that it underlies human happiness.
生活目标很重要,有了它人生才会幸福。
My football career was over and I had no purpose in life.
足球生涯的结束让我觉得生活失去了意义。
He possessed great strength of purpose.
他拥有坚强的意志。
6for all practical purposes (also to all intents and purposes)ALMOST used to say that something is so close to the truth that it can be considered to be the truth 实际上;大体上
The war, to all intents and purposes, was over.
战争实际上已经结束了。
We have a secretary of state for Scotland who is for all practical purposes a Scottish prime minister.
我们有一位苏格兰事务大臣,实际上就是苏格兰的首相。
Examples from the Corpus
for all practical purposes• For all practical purposes, the cleanup of the oilspill is complete.• For all practical purposes, the country is bankrupt.• But, for all practical purposes you can say that a windangle of 60° produces maximumdrift.• Indeed for all practical purposes he owned us.• Computerizedfreelanguageindexing is, for all practical purposes, the same as natural language indexing.• The editdisplayscreen can only be used, for all practical purposes, for cutting and pasting.• Most of the 54 storiesreproduced here, even the previously published ones, were, for all practical purposes, lost.• Yet for all practical purposes, Windows was Macintosh.
7serve its purposeUSEFULif something has served its purpose, it has done what you needed it to do 起到应有的作用
We delete the data once it has served its purpose.
这些数据一旦用过我们就把它删除。
Examples from the Corpus
serve its purpose• The handkerchief, having apparently served its purpose, was forgotten.• I felt that after two and a half years, the therapy had served its purpose.• The midnight-to-5 a.m. curfew has served its purpose of restoring order to the city.• This star system has served its purpose.• If not a particularly eloquent or clevercontribution, I thought it served its purpose.• Yet somehow that spurious report served its purpose in terms of giving labor unions a weapon to wield against business.• 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.
8defeat the purposeto fail to achieve the result you want 没有达到目的
Anxiety will cause tension, which defeats the purpose of the exercise (=the activity or plan).
忧虑会引发紧张情绪,一紧张就达不到目的了。
Examples from the Corpus
defeat the purpose• They are defeating the purpose of the PeaceCorps and they are unhappy.• This, of course, defeats the purpose for which the medication is being given.• Never remove them and forget to put them back, it defeats the purpose.• This obviously defeated the purpose of bail, which is to assure that the defendant will appear in court.• If they become a chore, they defeat the purpose of helping the child to want to interact with you.• Doesn't this defeat the purpose of producing fruit in the first place?• This anxiety will cause tension which defeats the purpose of the exercise.• This also eliminates the need to scroll to find data, which would defeat the purpose of having a commandcentre.
9to no purposeformalRESULT without any usefulresults 毫无效果
She called after them, but to no purpose.
她在他们身后叫他们,可是一点用也没有。
Examples from the Corpus
to no purpose• 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.• The chariot moves back and forth, he wrote, but to no purpose.• She called after them to no purpose.
10.to the purposeold-fashionedUSEFULuseful or helpful 有用的;有益的,有帮助的
Examples from the Corpus
to the purpose• Thus, Ahab is getting closer to the Purpose of his life.• The management company may be dedicatedto the purpose or this activity may be just one of a number of related activities.• The duty only extendsto the purpose for which the visitor was allowed entry.• The nature of the assessment should be gearedto the purpose of the writing.• We arrive at the degree of convergence necessaryto the purpose of interaction and no more.• FatherPeter felt that that embraced all things relating to the purpose of the League.• The application to the widercommunity brings us to the purpose of our gathering in this place dedicated to unity.
sense of purpose• Oh, for a sense of purpose.• When that is taken away, the new retiree may no longer have a sense of purpose.• Raised beds should have a sense of purpose, proportion and design.• If large goals are broken down into small specifiedshort-termtasks, a sense of purpose is created.• The wing, I found, had inadequatefocus and a fuzzysense of purpose.• Starting his own business gave him a new sense of purpose in his life.• The Star was reborn in 1941 with a new format and a renewedsense of purpose.• There are a couple of duds on Double Good Everything but there's also a sharpersense of purpose.
Originpurpose
(1200-1300)Old Frenchpurpos, from purposer“to intend”, from Latinproponere; → PROPOUND
1aim/function目標;功能ADJECTIVE | VERB + PURPOSE | PREPOSITION | PHRASESADJECTIVE➤limited有限的作用▸➤chief, main, primary, prime, principal首要目的;主要目的▸➤true真正目的▸➤sole唯一目的▸➤whole整個目的▸➤original最初的目的▸➤practical, useful實際/實用效果◇These bars serve no useful purpose.這些木條毫無用處。➤legitimate合法的目的▸➤general多用途◇a general-purpose cleaning fluid多用途清潔液➤common共同目的◇a group of individuals sharing a common purpose目的相同的一群人➤particular, special, specific特定作用;特別目的▸➤dual雙重功能◇a toy with the dual purpose of entertaining and developing memory skills具有娛樂與開發記憶雙重功能的玩具➤intended, stated預期的/申明的目的▸➤social社會作用◇the view that art should serve a social purpose藝術應該為社會服務的觀點VERB + PURPOSE➤have有目的▸➤lack缺乏目的▸➤accomplish, achieve, fulfil/fulfill, serve, suit實現目標;滿足⋯目的;為⋯目的服務;適合目的◇The plan achieved its primary purpose, if nothing else.別的不說,這個方案起碼實現了其初衷。◇The article could serve the purpose of generating some discussion.這篇文章可達到引起某種討論的目的。➤defeat挫敗目的◇Computer-animated cartoons that depict humans realistically seem to defeat the whole purpose of animation.逼真刻畫人類的電腦動畫似乎破壞了動畫的全部目的。PREPOSITION➤for a/the purpose特意;為了⋯目的◇I put the chair there for a purpose.我特意把椅子放在那兒。◇a measure introduced for the purpose of protecting the interests of investors為保護投資者的利益而採取的措施➤on purpose (= intentionally)故意◇He slammed the door on purpose.他故意把門砰的一聲關上了。PHRASES➤at cross purposes (= not understanding or having the same aims, etc. as each other)彼此誤解◇I finally realized that we were talking at cross purposes.我最後意識到我們說的是兩回事,彼此誤解了。➤for the express purpose of sth, with the express purpose of sth為了⋯的明確目的;有⋯的明確目的◇The school was founded with the express purpose of teaching deaf children to speak.學校創建時就有明確目的,即教耳聾的孩子學說話。➤for (all) practical purposes實際上◇Nominally she is the secretary, but for all practical purposes she runs the place.名義上她是秘書,實際上此處由她管理。➤your purpose in life人生目標◇She saw being a doctor as her purpose in life.她曾把從醫作為自己的人生目標。➤put sth to (a/some) purpose把⋯用於⋯◇The same information can be put to many purposes相同的信息可以有多種用途。➤a sense of purpose目標感◇Encouraged by her example, they all set to work with a fresh sense of purpose.在她的榜樣的鼓舞下,他們都懷着新的使命感投入到工作中。➤strength of purpose意志力◇They had great confidence and strength of purpose.他們信心十足,意志堅決。purpose
noun²
2purposesrequirements of a particular situation形勢的需要ADJECTIVE | PREPOSITIONADJECTIVE➤administrative, business, commercial, domestic, educational, insurance, legal, medical, medicinal, political, research, tax, teaching, training管理方面/商業方面/商務方面/家庭方面/教育方面/保險方面/法律方面/醫療方面/醫藥方面/政治方面/研究方面/賦稅方面/教學方面/培訓方面的需要◇You will need to have the vehicle valued for insurance purposes.你得找人給車子估價以便購買保險。➤comparative比較的目的◇For comparative purposes, the populations of three other cities are also shown.為便於比較,還顯示了另外三個城市的人口。PREPOSITION➤for... purpose用於⋯需要◇The drug can be sold for medicinal purposes only.這種藥只用作醫療藥品出售。➤for the purposes of (also for the purpose of in NAmE)為了⋯的目的◇Let's assume he knows, for the purposes of our argument.為了便於論證,我們假設他知道。
purpose noun ⇨purpose (The purpose of this is to…)⇨determination (strength of purpose)⇨function (serve a purpose)⇨mission (a sense of purpose)purpose
noun
➡ See also the entry for target另见target条purpose ♦︎ aim ♦︎ intention ♦︎ plan ♦︎ point ♦︎ idea ♦︎ intentThese are all words for talking about what sb/sth intends to do or achieve.这些词均表示意图、目标。PATTERNS AND COLLOCATIONS 句型和搭配◆with the purpose / aim / intention / idea / intent of doing sth◆sb's purpose / aim / intention / plan / intent that...◆sb's intention / plan / intent to do sth◆sb / sth's original purpose / aim / intention / plan / idea / intent◆a specific purpose / aim / intention / plan / intent◆the whole point / idea◆to have a purpose / an aim / an intention / a plan / a point / an intent◆to state your purpose / aim / intention◆to declare your aim / intention / intent◆to achieve / fulfil a purpose / an aim■purpose [countable] what sth is supposed to achieve; what sb is trying to achieve意图;目的;目标◆The main purpose of the campaign is to raise money.这次活动的主要目的是募集资金。◆A meeting was called for the purpose of appointing a new treasurer.为任命新的财务主管召开了一次会议。◆ (ratherformal) 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。■aim [countable] what sb is trying to achieve; what sth is supposed to achieve目的;目标;意图◆She went to London with the aim of finding a job.她抱着想找份工作的目的去了伦敦。◆Our main aim is to increase sales in Europe.我们的主要目标是增加欧洲的销售额。◆She set out the company's aims and objectives in her speech.她在讲话中阐明了公司的目标和宗旨。 see also aim ⇨ intendverbNOTE辨析 Purpose or aim?Your purpose for doing something is your reason for doing it; your aim is what you want to achieve. Aim can suggest that you are only trying to achieve sth; purpose gives a stronger sense of achievement being certain. Aim can be sb's aim or the aim of sth. Purpose is more usually the purpose of sth: you can talk about sb's purpose but that is more formal. * purpose指做某事的原因,aim指想取得的成果。aim可能表示“只是努力想做到”,而purpose则意味着更强的达成目标的信心。可以说sb's aim,也可以说the aim of sth。the purpose of sth较常见,也可以说sb's purpose,但较正式。■intention [countable] what you intend to do意图;计划;打算◆I have no intention of going to the wedding.我无意去参加婚礼。◆He has announced his intention to retire.他宣布了退休的打算。◆I have every intention of paying her back what I owe her.我一心想把我欠她的还给她。◆She's full of good intentions but they rarely work out.她虽然处处出于善意,但往往事与愿违。 see also intend ⇨ intend■plan [countable] what you intend to do or achieve计划;打算◆Do you have any plans for the summer?这个夏天你有什么打算吗?◆There are no plans to build new offices.没有建新办公楼的计划。◆There's been a change of plan.计划有变。◆We can't change our plans now.我们现在不能改变计划了。 see also plan ⇨ plannoun1, plan ⇨ intendverbNOTE辨析 Intention or plan?Your intentions are what you want to do, especially in the near future; your plans are what you have decided or arranged to do, often, but not always, in the longer term. * intention指想要做的事,尤指近期打算;plan指已经决定或安排去做的事情,常常是长期的计划,但是也有例外。■point [uncountable, singular] (ratherinformal, usuallydisapproving) the purpose or aim of sth意图;目的;理由◆What's the point of all this violence?这一切的暴力行为有什么意义?◆There's no point in getting angry.发火是没有用的。◆I don't see the point of doing it all again.我就不明白,再做一次有什么意义。■idea [singular] (ratherinformal) the purpose of sth; sb's aim意图;目标◆The whole idea of going was so that we could meet her new boyfriend.去的唯一目的是我们能见到她的新男友。◆What's the idea of all this?这一切的目的是什么?◆My original idea was to use amateur actors.我原本打算用业余演员。NOTE辨析 Point or idea?Point is a more negative word than idea. If you say What's the point...? you are suggesting that there is no point; if you say What's the idea...? you are genuinely asking a question. Point, but notidea, is used to talk about things you feel annoyed or unhappy about. * point比idea多几分否定意义。What's the point ...?表示做某事毫无道理,What's the idea ...?则是真正的询问。point用于描述让人生气或不快的事情,但idea则不行◆There's no idea in...◆I don't see the idea of...You might miss the point of sth(= fail to understand)but get the idea(= understand). You can talk about the point/idea of sth or sb's idea but notsb's point. * miss the point of sth意为“不明白”,get the idea意为“理解”。可以说the point/idea of sth,也可以说sb's idea,但不能说sb's point◆My original point was to use amateur actors.■intent ɪnˈtent [uncountable] (formalorlaw法律) what you intend to do意图;目的◆She denies possessing the drug with intent to supply.她否认藏有毒品是为了供他人使用。◆He was charged with wounding with intent.他被指控故意伤人。