aim

1. 1.

   an anticipated outcome that is intended or that guides your planned actions

   “his intent was to provide a new translation”

   “good intentions are not enough”

   “it was created with the conscious aim of answering immediate needs”

   “he made no secret of his designs”

   Synonymspurposeintentintentiondesign

   Broadergoal

   Narrowermindcross-purposefinal causesakeviewwill
2. 2.

   the goal intended to be attained (and which is believed to be attainable)

   “the sole object of her trip was to see her children”

   Synonymsobjectobjectivetarget

   Broadergoal

   Narrowergrailbusinesspointthing
3. 3.

   the action of directing something at an object

   “he took aim and fired”

   Broadersteering
4. 4.

   the direction or path along which something moves or along which it lies

   Synonymsbearingheading

   Broaderdirection

   Narrowertack

Other forms of aim

plural

aims·

past tense

aimed·

present participle

aiming·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about aim

What does aim mean?

aim means "point or cause to go (blows, weapons, or objects such as photographic equipment) towards". That is the primary sense; the word has 11 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in aim?

aim has 1 syllable: aim. In IPA it is /ˈeɪm/.

What is another word for aim?

Close synonyms include take, train, take aim, direct, purpose. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is aim a common word?

aim is banded "Common" — everyday vocabulary in speech and writing. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.