aim
to position or direct (a firearm, ball, arrow, rocket, etc.) so that, on firing or release, the discharged projectile will hit a target or travel along a certain path.
to intend or direct for a particular effect or purpose: to aim a satire at snobbery.
to point or direct a gun, punch, etc., toward: He aimed at the target but missed it.
to strive; try (usually followed by to or at): We aim to please.They aim at saving something every month.
to intend: She aims to go tomorrow.
to direct efforts, as toward an object: The satire aimed at modern greed.
Obsolete. to estimate; guess.
the act of aiming or directing anything at or toward a particular point or target.
the direction in which a weapon or missile is pointed; the line of sighting: within the cannon's aim.
the point intended to be hit; thing or person aimed at: to miss one's aim.
something intended or desired to be attained by one's efforts; purpose: whatever his aim in life may be.
Obsolete. conjecture; guess.
Idioms about aim
take aim, to sight a target: to take aim and fire.
Origin of aim
1synonym study For aim
Other words for aim
Other words from aim
- aimer, noun
- aimful, adjective
- aim·ful·ly, adverb
- mis·aim, verb, noun
- un·aimed, adjective
- un·aim·ing, adjective
- un·der·aim, noun
- un·der·aim, verb
- well-aimed, adjective
Other definitions for AIM (2 of 2)
American Indian Movement.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use aim in a sentence
Albeit frank about its aim to build more brand awareness, 85% of the show’s time teaches, for free, how to build a business to success.
Inbound marketing for brand awareness: Four up-to-date ways to do it | Ali Faagba | September 11, 2020 | Search Engine WatchThe aim of this program is to boost confidence in math among 6th and 7th graders.
A secret of science: Mistakes boost understanding | Rachel Kehoe | September 10, 2020 | Science News For StudentsAt the 11-minute mark, Schulman explains the initiative and its aims.
PayPal’s CEO on why moral leadership makes clear capitalism needs an upgrade | McKenna Moore | September 8, 2020 | FortuneOn updating e-commerce rules and liability — which is a stated aim of the DSA plan — Google is cautiously supportive of regulatory changes to reflect what it describes as “the digital transformation of the last two decades.”
Google pushes Europe to limit ‘gatekeeper’ platform rules | Natasha Lomas | September 4, 2020 | TechCrunchAmazon’s Project Kuiper has similar aims but has yet to loft any satellites.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX Internet service, Starlink, officially reveals download speeds | Aaron Pressman | September 3, 2020 | Fortune
Isolated lesbians learned that there were other women like them via books whose covers aimed to titillate heterosexual men.
But consider how citizens here in the States are now being arrested for posting threatening messages aimed at police on Facebook.
Politicians Only Love Journalists When They're Dead | Luke O’Neil | January 8, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTSo too with a vaccine that provokes a specific immune response aimed at a specific RNA sequence.
When You Get the Flu This Winter, You Can Blame Anti-Vaxxers | Kent Sepkowitz | January 1, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTLeave it to Katniss to cut through a story with one perfectly aimed strike.
Jennifer Lawrence’s Righteous Fury Says Everything We Wanted to Say | Kevin O’Keeffe | December 29, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTI was lost, fresh back from Vietnam, searching, maybe, for a peril the equivalent of war but aimed in the direction of life.
He aimed at the yawning hippopotamus and fired, hitting it on the skull, but at such an angle that the ball glanced off.
Hunting the Lions | R.M. BallantyneThe well-aimed shots of the Americans were beginning to tell forcibly against the Spaniards.
The Philippine Islands | John ForemanIn employing these heavy pressures of wind, increased purity and beauty of tone should alone be aimed at.
The Recent Revolution in Organ Building | George Laing MillerProsperity is a good thing, but you, at least, know what he has aimed at stands high above that.
Winston of the Prairie | Harold BindlossTchaikovsky, on the contrary, had more respect than enthusiasm for Beethoven, and never aimed at following in his footsteps.
The Life & Letters of Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky | Modeste Tchaikovsky
British Dictionary definitions for aim (1 of 2)
/ (eɪm) /
to point (a weapon, missile, etc) or direct (a blow) at a particular person or object; level
(tr) to direct (satire, criticism, etc) at a person, object, etc
(intr; foll by at or an infinitive) to propose or intend: we aim to leave early
(intr; often foll by at or for) to direct one's efforts or strive (towards): to aim at better communications; to aim high
the action of directing something at an object
the direction in which something is pointed; line of sighting (esp in the phrase to take aim)
the object at which something is aimed; target
intention; purpose
Origin of aim
1British Dictionary definitions for AIM (2 of 2)
(in Britain) Alternative Investment Market
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with aim
In addition to the idiom beginning with aim
- aim to
also see:
- take aim
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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