aim

[eym]

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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR aim ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

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.

verb (used without object)

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.

noun

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

take aim, to sight a target: to take aim and fire.

Origin of aim

1275–1325; late Middle English aimen < Anglo-French a(e)smer, eimer, Old French aesmer < Vulgar Latin *adaestimāre, equivalent to Latin ad- ad- + aestimāre (see estimate); replacing Middle English amen < Old French (dial.) amer < Latin aestimāre

Related formsaim·er, nounaim·ful, adjectiveaim·ful·ly, adverbmis·aim, verb, nounun·aimed, adjectiveun·aim·ing, adjectiveun·der·aim, nounun·der·aim, verbwell-aimed, adjective

Synonyms for aim

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR aim ON THESAURUS.COM

1. point. 8. sighting. 10. target, objective. 11. goal; intent, design.

Synonym study

11. Aim, end, object all imply something that is the goal of one's efforts. Aim implies that toward which one makes a direct line, refusing to be diverted from it: a nobleness of aim; one's aim in life. End emphasizes the goal as a cause of efforts: the end for which one strives. Object emphasizes the goal as that toward which all efforts are directed: the object of years of study.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for aimed

directed, intended, calculated, marked, anticipated, planned, designed, steered

Examples from the Web for aimed

Contemporary Examples of aimed

I was lost, fresh back from Vietnam, searching, maybe, for a peril the equivalent of war but aimed in the direction of life.
What It Takes to Kill a Grizzly Bear
Doug Peacock
November 23, 2014
All is aimed at inculcating young minds with the ISIS ideology.
Darkness at Noon Prayers: Inside the Islamic Police State
Jamie Dettmer
November 5, 2014
He helped set up an institute in Mexico aimed at improving wheat and corn production.
Growth Stocks
The Daily Beast
October 17, 2014
What do you think of books that are written today aimed at younger demographics, like The Hunger Games.
R.L. Stine’s Secret to Scaring the Crap Out of Kids
Kevin Fallon
October 3, 2014
He oversaw a brutal regime, aimed at instilling respect, deference and acceptance of duty into the princes.
Kate and William’s Royal Family Values
Tom Sykes
September 22, 2014

Historical Examples of aimed

Still there were other and nearer roads to the point I aimed at.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. 327
Various
He thinks that every bullet is going to hit him, and that every shot is aimed at him.
The Story of the Malakand Field Force
Sir Winston S. Churchill
Thoroughness and accuracy are two principal points to be aimed at in study.
Self-Help
Samuel Smiles
He aimed at it with a crumpled envelope he held in his hand, and hit it.
The Coryston Family
Mrs. Humphry Ward
But she did not speak to Eleanore now, her talk like Joe's was aimed at me.
The Harbor
Ernest Poole

British Dictionary definitions for aimed

aim

verb

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 intendwe 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

noun

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

Word Origin for aim

C14: via Old French aesmer from Latin aestimāre to estimate

AIM

abbreviation for

(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

Word Origin and History for aimed

aim

early 14c., "target;" late 14c., "guess;" from aim (v.). Meaning "action of aiming" is from early 15c. (to take aim, originally make aim); that of "thing intended, purpose" is from 1620s.

aim

early 14c., "to estimate, calculate," also "to intend," from Old French aesmer "value, rate; count, estimate," from Latin aestimare "appraise" (see estimation); current meaning apparently developed from "esteem," to "calculate," to "calculate with a view to action" (c.1400), then to "direct a missile, a blow, etc." (1570s). Related: Aimed; aiming.

Idioms and Phrases with aimed

aim

In addition to the idiom beginning with aim

aim to

also see:

take aim