purpose

UK:*UK and possibly other pronunciationsUK and possibly other pronunciations/ˈpɜːrpəs/US:USA pronunciation: IPA and respellingUSA pronunciation: IPA/ˈpɝpəs/ ,USA pronunciation: respelling(pûr′pəs)

Inflections of 'purpose' (v): (⇒ conjugate)
purposes
v 3rd person singular
purposing
v pres p
purposed
v past
purposed
v past p

Collocations for "purpose"


Common phrases and expressions where native English speakers use the word "purpose" in context.

WordReference English Collocations © 2026

purpose

ⓘMost examples are given in US English. We have labeled exceptions as UK.
n
  1. the [ultimate, proposed, intended, original] purpose
  2. has a [special, particular] purpose
  3. this [product, device, machine] has a [special] purpose
  4. [serves, achieves, has] a [special] purpose
  5. (suitable) for [all, many, several] purposes
  6. for [tax, legal, financial, company] purposes
  7. for her own mysterious purposes
  8. for one purpose (and one) alone
  9. for the purpose of [robbing, defrauding, cheating] them
  10. what is the purpose of the [meeting, talk, course]?
  11. is there any purpose to this [meeting]?
  12. his life had [no, little] purpose
  13. find your (special) purpose in life
  14. her purpose in life was
  15. a [sense, feeling] of purpose
n as adj
  1. did not [do, say, forget] it on purpose
  2. did you do that on purpose?!
  3. he didn't [do, say] it on purpose
'purpose' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
cleaner - committee - common - define - deterrent - disgrace - dissertation - dual - express - fax - fit - flour - founder - functional - intended - irrelevant - primary - prime - seminar - serve - sole - specific - state - statement - suit - ultimate - undone - whatsoever - whose

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