all-purpose

[ awl-pur-puh s ]

/ ˈɔlˈpɜr pəs /

for every purpose: an all-purpose detergent.

Origin of all-purpose

First recorded in 1925–30

Or maybe we are just whiny wimps, an all-purpose explanation for every descent-of-man phenomenon that never is far off the mark.

Blame Climate Change for Your Terrible Seasonal Allergies |Kent Sepkowitz |May 14, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
This all-purpose response would also allow one to deny that there is a missing Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777.

Evangelicals Still Don’t Know What to Do With the Big Bang |Karl W. Giberson |March 23, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
But the pope thought of him more as an all-purpose authority on anything scientific or technical.

Benjamin Franklin, America’s First Storm Chaser |Lee Sandlin |April 14, 2013 |DAILY BEAST
But college is not like some sort of all-purpose herbal supplement that cures bunions and also colic; it teaches specific skills.

Sorry, Kids, No High School Diplomas Need Apply |Megan McArdle |February 20, 2013 |DAILY BEAST

He had hanged himself with 550 cord, an all-purpose green string that looks like a shoelace and can hold 550 pounds.

Suicidal Soldiers |Elspeth Reeve |May 11, 2009 |DAILY BEAST
An all-purpose goat's milk, Parmesan type, eaten sliced when young, grated when old.

The Complete Book of Cheese |Robert Carlton Brown
The carabao, or water buffalo, is the one all-purpose farm animal.

The Old World and Its Ways |William Jennings Bryan
It would be nice if we could report that they are fit for all-purpose service, on a wide range of planets.

The Hunters |William Morrison
They were sitting in All-Purpose Lounges, arranged in a circle.

Subjectivity |Norman Spinrad
Runkel's All-Purpose Cocoa is the finest quality chocolate, already a powder, all ready to use!

Mrs. Wilson's Cook Book |Mary A. Wilson

all-purpose

useful for many things