mean to

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Intend to, as in I meant to go running this morning but got up too late, or I'm sorry I broke it—I didn't mean to. This idiom was first recorded in 1560.

QUIZ

CAN YOU ANSWER THESE COMMON GRAMMAR DEBATES?

There are grammar debates that never die; and the ones highlighted in the questions in this quiz are sure to rile everyone up once again. Do you know how to answer the questions that cause some of the greatest grammar debates?

Question 1 of 7

Which sentence is correct?

His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

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Words nearby mean to

mean square deviation, means test, mean sun, meant, meantime, mean to, meantone system, mean-tone tuning, mean value, mean value theorem, meanwhile

How to use mean to in a sentence

I mean, physically, mentally, you know, in every way, shape, and form.
I Tried to Warn You About Sleazy Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein in 2003|Vicky Ward|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
What 15 months in a federal correction institution will be like, according to a man who counsels to-be inmates.
How a ‘Real Housewife’ Survives Prison: ‘I Don’t See [Teresa Giudice] Having a Cakewalk Here’|Michael Howard|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
What they actually mean by that is, you know, he actually knows some people that are poor.
Why This Liberal Hearts Huckabee|Sally Kohn|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
What does Bondi mean that clerks now should “determine how to proceed”?
The Back Alley, Low Blow-Ridden Fight to Stop Gay Marriage in Florida Is Finally Over|Jay Michaelson|January 5, 2015|DAILY BEAST

What is most troubling is our – and I do mean “our” and not “their” – never treating these situations as learning opportunities.
In 2015, Let’s Try for More Compassion|Gene Robinson|January 4, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Each day she resolved, "To-morrow I will tell Felipe;" and when to-morrow came, she put it off again.
Ramona|Helen Hunt Jackson
Hilda, trembling at the door, more than half expected Mr. Orgreave to say: "You mean, she's invited herself."
Hilda Lessways|Arnold Bennett
All the operations of her brain related themselves somehow to to-morrow afternoon.
Hilda Lessways|Arnold Bennett
He wanted to tell her that if she called her father, it would mean the end of everything for them, but he withheld this.
The Homesteader|Oscar Micheaux
It was difficult, with the mean appliances of the time, to wring subsistence from the reluctant earth.
The Unsolved Riddle of Social Justice|Stephen Leacock