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
Words Nearby aim
Other definitions for AIM (2 of 2)
American Indian Movement.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use aim in a sentence
The aim is to cause a domino effect that disrupts the global food-supply chain.
This restaurant duo want a zero-carbon food system. Can it happen? | Bobbie Johnson | September 24, 2020 | MIT Technology ReviewThe aim is to let users correlate meals with changes in blood glucose levels.
Undermyfork scores $400K seed for its diabetes tracking app and US launch | Steve O'Hear | August 28, 2020 | TechCrunchThe WhatsApp lawsuit, meanwhile, has taken aim close to the heart of NSO’s business.
Inside NSO, Israel’s billion-dollar spyware giant | Tate Ryan-Mosley | August 19, 2020 | MIT Technology ReviewIn the context of these crises, our primary aim should be for a system where people are not obligated to work to generate the means to survive.
The Global Work Crisis: Automation, the Case Against Jobs, and What to Do About It | Peter Xing | August 6, 2020 | Singularity HubThe aim is to let users see “detailed information about all the ads they see on the web,” but it will need to get broad buy-in and implementation of Ad Disclosure schema to get there.
And, as Gow adds wryly from his own personal experience, “To a huge extent they achieved that aim very well.”
It will still carry a pair of Raytheon aim-120 AMRAAM long-range air-to-air missiles and a pair of bombs.
New U.S. Stealth Jet Can’t Fire Its Gun Until 2019 | Dave Majumdar | December 31, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTSometimes, they had a backup aim if their main goal fell through as the night dragged on.
The Craziest Date Night for Single Jews, Where Mistletoe Is Ditched for Shots | Emily Shire | December 26, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe Raptor carries six AMRAAMs and two shorter range aim-9 Sidewinder missiles inside its weapons bays.
Pentagon Worries That Russia Can Now Outshoot U.S. Stealth Jets | Dave Majumdar | December 4, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTTo “link up the beachheads and peg out claims well inland” was necessarily the first aim of Overlord.
Blood in the Sand: When James Jones Wrote a Grunt’s View of D-Day | James Jones | November 15, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTTo reproduce the impulse born of the thought—this is the aim of a psychological method.
Expressive Voice Culture | Jessie Eldridge SouthwickShe is skilful in seizing salient characteristics, and her chief aim is to preserve the individuality of her sitters and models.
Women in the fine arts, from the Seventh Century B.C. to the Twentieth Century A.D. | Clara Erskine ClementThe next moment a pistol was fired at their head, and a deep groan shewed it had taken too true an aim.
The Pastor's Fire-side Vol. 3 of 4 | Jane PorterThe whole aim is to secure the development of character by the expression of the highest elements of character.
Expressive Voice Culture | Jessie Eldridge SouthwickI have never seen him do anything, although a good act, that did not have a private aim.
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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