dual-purpose

[doo-uhl-pur-puhs, dyoo-]

adjective

1. serving two functions.

   a dual-purpose database for research and teaching.

2. (of cattle) bred for two purposes, as to provide beef and milk.

dual-purpose

adjective

1. having or serving two functions

Word History and Origins

Origin of dual-purpose¹

First recorded in 1910–15

Example Sentences

They include military parades by the Russian settlement to mark their commemorations for the end of World War Two, the flying of a Soviet flag over Russian infrastructure, and growing suspicion that the Chinese have made their Svalbard research station dual-purpose - for military espionage.

From BBC

Also to the Jeep’s advantage is its dual-purpose nature; it’s equally at home on paved surfaces or when venturing off-road.

From Seattle Times

With an efficiency apartment, the rooms are created by walls and there is very little opportunity to make a dual-purpose room out of any of the space in an efficiency apartment.

From Encyclopedia.com

The projectiles being sent to Ukraine are commonly referred to by the name given to those small grenades: dual-purpose improved conventional munitions, or D.P.I.C.M. — and pronounced by some officials as dee-PICK-’ems.

From New York Times

For months, the top Republicans on the Senate and House foreign affairs and armed services committees — Representatives Michael McCaul of Texas and Mike Rogers of Alabama and Senators James Risch of Idaho and Roger Wicker of Mississippi — have been calling on the Biden administration to provide Ukraine with dual-purpose improved conventional munitions, of the sort that were approved on Friday.

From New York Times