all-purpose

[ awl-pur-puhs ]
See synonyms for all-purpose on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. for every purpose: an all-purpose detergent.

Origin of all-purpose

1
First recorded in 1925–30

Words Nearby all-purpose

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use all-purpose in a sentence

  • It would be nice if we could report that they are fit for all-purpose service, on a wide range of planets.

    The Hunters | William Morrison
  • Then they were running for their lives with one of the crablike all-purpose jobs after them.

    The Cosmic Computer | Henry Beam Piper
  • It's one of those all-purpose round cheeses that even taste round in your mouth.

    The Complete Book of Cheese | Robert Carlton Brown
  • An all-purpose goat's milk, Parmesan type, eaten sliced when young, grated when old.

    The Complete Book of Cheese | Robert Carlton Brown
  • They were sitting in all-purpose Lounges, arranged in a circle.

    Subjectivity | Norman Spinrad

British Dictionary definitions for all-purpose

all-purpose

adjective
  1. useful for many things

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