serve a purpose

Idioms  

1. Also,. Be useful, meet the needs or requirements, satisfy, as in I don't know why they've added all this information but it probably serves a purpose, or It often serves his purpose to be vague, or We don't have a spading fork but this shovel should serve the purpose. This idiom was first recorded in 1513.

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Example Sentences

According to Ranjay Gulati, a professor of business administration at Harvard Business School, courageous leaders “take bold, risky action to serve a purpose that they perceive to be worthy, usually in the face of an abiding fear.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Beijing’s climate pledges are often dismissed as meaningless, but they serve a purpose: helping Chinese companies secure access to Europe’s market.

From The Wall Street Journal

"I just see that great massive cost and it is not going to serve a purpose because after seven years, no learning can come out of that now," she said.

From BBC

Boundaries are necessary and hierarchies serve a purpose, but creativity depends on flexibility.

From Los Angeles Times

What started to resurface were the times when I felt truly and enduringly at peace, the way lifestyle minimalism promises you’re supposed to feel when you’ve gotten rid of everything in your house that doesn’t serve a purpose, or when the pile of tote bags taking up real estate in your dresser disappears.

From Los Angeles Times