all-purpose

[ awl-pur-puh s ]

/ ˈɔlˈpɜr pəs /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR all-purpose ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

for every purpose: an all-purpose detergent.

Nearby words

all-over, all-overs, all-pass, all-points bulletin, all-powerful, all-purpose, all-right, all-round, all-rounder, all-singing all-dancing, all-sorts

Origin of all-purpose

First recorded in 1925–30

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

Examples from the Web for all-purpose

Or maybe we are just whiny wimps, an all-purpose explanation for every descent-of-man phenomenon that never is far off the mark.
Blame Climate Change for Your Terrible Seasonal Allergies|Kent Sepkowitz|May 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST
This all-purpose response would also allow one to deny that there is a missing Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777.
Evangelicals Still Don’t Know What to Do With the Big Bang|Karl W. Giberson|March 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But the pope thought of him more as an all-purpose authority on anything scientific or technical.
Benjamin Franklin, America’s First Storm Chaser|Lee Sandlin|April 14, 2013|DAILY BEAST
But college is not like some sort of all-purpose herbal supplement that cures bunions and also colic; it teaches specific skills.
Sorry, Kids, No High School Diplomas Need Apply|Megan McArdle|February 20, 2013|DAILY BEAST

He had hanged himself with 550 cord, an all-purpose green string that looks like a shoelace and can hold 550 pounds.
Suicidal Soldiers|Elspeth Reeve|May 11, 2009|DAILY BEAST
An all-purpose goat's milk, Parmesan type, eaten sliced when young, grated when old.
The Complete Book of Cheese|Robert Carlton Brown
The carabao, or water buffalo, is the one all-purpose farm animal.
The Old World and Its Ways|William Jennings Bryan
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
They were sitting in All-Purpose Lounges, arranged in a circle.
Subjectivity|Norman Spinrad
Runkel's All-Purpose Cocoa is the finest quality chocolate, already a powder, all ready to use!
Mrs. Wilson's Cook Book|Mary A. Wilson

British Dictionary definitions for all-purpose

all-purpose

adjective

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