aim

[ eym ]
/ eɪm /

verb (used with object)

to position or direct (a firearm, ball, arrow, rocket, etc.) so that, on firing or release, the discharged projectile will hit a target or travel along a certain path.
to intend or direct for a particular effect or purpose: to aim a satire at snobbery.

verb (used without object)

noun

Idioms for aim

    take aim, to sight a target: to take aim and fire.

Origin of aim

1275–1325; late Middle English aimen < Anglo-French a(e)smer, eimer, Old French aesmer < Vulgar Latin *adaestimāre, equivalent to Latin ad- ad- + aestimāre (see estimate); replacing Middle English amen < Old French (dial.) amer < Latin aestimāre

SYNONYMS FOR aim

1 point.
8 sighting.
10 target, objective.
11 goal; intent, design.

synonym study for aim

11. Aim, end, object all imply something that is the goal of one's efforts. Aim implies that toward which one makes a direct line, refusing to be diverted from it: a nobleness of aim; one's aim in life. End emphasizes the goal as a cause of efforts: the end for which one strives. Object emphasizes the goal as that toward which all efforts are directed: the object of years of study.

OTHER WORDS FROM aim

Words nearby aim

ailment, ailurophile, ailurophilia, ailurophobe, ailurophobia, aim, aim to, aimak, aimee, aiming point, aimless

British Dictionary definitions for aim to (1 of 2)

aim
/ (eɪm) /

verb

noun

Word Origin for aim

C14: via Old French aesmer from Latin aestimāre to estimate

British Dictionary definitions for aim to (2 of 2)

AIM

abbreviation for

(in Britain) Alternative Investment Market

Idioms and Phrases with aim to (1 of 2)

aim to

Try or intend to do something, as in We aim to please, or She aims to fly to California. This term derives from aim in the sense of “direct the course of something,” such as an arrow or bullet. [Colloquial; c. 1600]

Idioms and Phrases with aim to (2 of 2)

aim