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for-profit

American  
[fer-prof-it] / fərˈprɒf ɪt /

adjective

  1. (of a business or institution) initiated or operated for the purpose of making a profit.

    for-profit hospitals.

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

He wants more than $150 billion, alleging OpenAI defrauded him as a donor in seeking to convert it into a for-profit company.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 7, 2026

This isn’t unheard of: Some universities already have taxable, for-profit arms, whether it’s in real estate development, hospitality or startup incubators.

From Salon • Apr. 5, 2026

Such hospice providers are not owned by private-equity firms or for-profit entities.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 24, 2026

Last month, Padilla and Sen. Adam Schiff toured a for-profit detention center in California City after reports of unsafe facilities, inadequate medical care and limited access to attorneys.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 18, 2026

So together, Reader and Vincent used HeLa cells as the springboard to launch the first industrial-scale, for-profit cell distribution center.

From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.