name, noun, verb ·Very common ·Middle school level
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "aim" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "aim" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "aim" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Check whether "aim" is acting as name, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
Compare it with "purpose" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Before publishing a sentence with "aim", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
"to take aim"
"My number one aim in life is to make money to make my parents, siblings, and kids happy."
"The police officer has excellent aim, always hitting the bullseye in shooting practice."
"What you would work me to, I have some aim."
"He aimed at the target, but the arrow flew straight over it."
"to aim at a pass"
"to aim an arrow at the deer"
"to aim a satirical comment at Communists in general"
"But, good my lord, do it so cunningly / That my discovery be not aimed at;"
"There are Schimmel Sister stickers, and Navajo Nation stickers, Cherokee Nation stickers, Idle No More, and AIM flags duct-taped to antennas."
"We must achieve our aim at any price."
The pointing of a weapon, as a gun, a dart, or an arrow, or object, in the line of direction with the object intended to be struck; the line of fire; the direction of anything, such as a spear, a blow, a discourse, a remark, towards a particular point or object, with a view to strike or affect it.
Common synonyms include: purpose, design, intention, object, objective, target.
We must achieve our aim at any price.
Pronounced /eɪm/.
The verb is from Middle English amen, aimen, eimen (“to guess at, to estimate, to aim”), borrowed from Old French esmer, aesmer, asmer, from Latin ad- plus aestimare (“to estimate”), the compound perhaps being originally formed in Medieval Latin (adaestimare), perhaps in Old French. The noun is from Middle English ame, from Old French aesme, esme.