general-purpose

American  

[jen-er-uhl-pur-puhs] / ˈdʒɛn ər əlˈpɜr pəs /

adjective

1. useful in many ways; not limited in use or function.

   a good general-purpose dictionary.

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general-purpose British  

adjective

1. having a range of uses or applications; not restricted to one function

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Etymology

Origin of general-purpose

First recorded in 1890–95

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

general-purpose

Legacy uses the same general-purpose machines available to other businesses willing to invest in the equipment, and no printers are marketed exclusively for Hollywood, he said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 19, 2026

Less than half of general-purpose law-enforcement agencies had acquired body cameras in 2016, and many hadn’t equipped front-line officers with them.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026

With AI, hyperscale customers who know exactly what they want can use Tan’s ASICs as a scalpel, rather than turn to the Swiss Army knife of Nvidia’s general-purpose chips.

From Barron's ● Jun. 19, 2026

The EU said it began its investigation, in December 2025, after Meta banned third-party general-purpose AI assistants from the WhatsApp for Business API.

From BBC ● Jun. 9, 2026

Eden is of value as a general-purpose grape for the South and is interesting as one of the few supposed hybrids with V. rotundifolia.

From Manual of American Grape-Growing by Hedrick, U. P.