target

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1. The figurative use of target meaning 'an amount or objective to be achieved' arose during the Second World War and is now more common than the primary meaning. Sir Ernest Gowers, the senior Whitehall civil servant and writer on language, grew rapidly tired of the word:

We were offered a great variety of things that we might meritoriously do to our targets. We might reach them, achieve them, attain them or obtain them; we were to feel greatly encouraged if we came in sight of the target to which we were trying to do whatever we were trying to do, and correspondingly depressed if we found ourselves either a long way behind it or (what apparently amounts to the same thing) a long way short of it—ABC of Plain Words, 1951.

While care should be taken to avoid contexts that are jarringly incongruous (such as keeping abreast of targets, perhaps), the physical image is less strong than it is (for example) with ceiling, and Gowers' strictures now seem somewhat obsessive. To complain, as some do, that a doubled target is larger, and therefore necessarily easier to hit rather than harder, smacks strongly of pedantry. Used with care, target has a useful role alongside alternatives such as aim, goal, object, and objective.

2. The verb, meaning 'to single out as an object of attack', has inflected forms targeted, targeting.

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noun

1. One that is fired at, attacked, or abused: butt³, mark. See seek/avoid.
2. What one intends to do or achieve: aim, ambition, design, end, goal, intent, intention, mark, meaning, object, objective, point, purpose, view, why. Idioms: end in view, why and wherefore. See planned/unplanned, purpose/purposelessness.

verb

1. To make a target of: mark. Idioms: drawgeta bead on. See seek/avoid.
2. To have in mind as a goal or purpose: aim, contemplate, design, intend, mean¹, plan, project, propose, purpose. Regional mind. See planned/unplanned, purpose/purposelessness.

n. 1. a geographical area, complex, or installation planned for capture or destruction by military forces.

2. a person, object, or place selected as the aim of an attack.

3. in intelligence usage, a country, area, installation, agency, or person against which intelligence operations are directed.

4. an area designated and numbered for future firing.

5. in gunfire support usage, an impact burst that hits the target.

6. a mark or point at which someone fires or aims, especially a round or rectangular board marked with concentric circles used in archery or shooting.

v. targeted, targeting

1. (usually be targeted) select as an object of attention or attack: two men were targeted by the attackers.

2. aim or direct (something): a significant nuclear capability targeted on the U.S..

on target accurately hitting the thing aimed at.

targetable adj.

See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.

In surveying, see leveling rod.

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Term used by parapsychologists to indicate the object (mental or physical) to which a subject attempts to respond paranormally. A mental target would relate to extrasensory perception, a physical target to psychokinesis.

(DOD) 1. An area, complex, installation, force, equipment, capability, function, or behavior identified for possible action to support the commander's objectives, guidance, and intent. Targets fall into two general categories: planned and immediate. 2. In intelligence usage, a country, area, installation, agency, or person against which intelligence operations are directed. 3. An area designated and numbered for future firing. 4. In gunfire support usage, an impact burst that hits the target. Also called TGT. See also objective area.

Dreaming about a target often reflects one's aims and goals. Alternatively, perhaps the dreamer feels like she or he is the target of something.

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i. The process of selecting targets and matching suitable weapons to achieve the required degree of neutralization.
ii. The process of inserting position coordinates of fixed-surface targets into the guidance software of the aircraft or missile.

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The goal or optimum. This can either be a competitor's product to be duplicated, a gold standard, and optimum marketing ideal or any other definable conclusion. See Gold Standard.

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the object at which an action or process is directed. For example, a target cell is the cell under attack by a cytolytic or killer cell or other cytolytic agent, and a target tissue is the tissue that is acted on by any hormone, growth factor, or other agonist. See also drug target.

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1. an object or area toward which something is directed, e.g. target animal, population, level or nucleotide sequence.
2. the area of the anode of an x-ray tube where the electron beam collides causing the emission of x-rays.
3. a cell or organ that is affected by a particular agent, e.g. a hormone or drug.

• t. cell — see target cell.
• t.–film distance — the distance from the target of the x-ray tube and the plane of the x-ray film.
• t. lesion — skin lesion consisting of annular or arciform areas of erythema with central pigmentation. Associated with bacterial hypersensitivity and seborrheic dermatitis. Called also bull's eye lesion.
• performance t. — in herd health programs target performances are set up in a number of production and health functions in order to provide an incentive and give some measure of performance other than an absolute one. This enables farmers to be rated on their effective performance in spite of the great variations that can occur between them in basic resources.

n

The small tungsten block, embedded in the face of the anode, that is bombarded by electrons from the cathode in an x-ray tube.

For a list of words related to target, see:

• Electricity and Electronics - target: surface at which stream of particles is directed
• War Machinery and War Zones - target: area, object, or installation destined to be destroyed by bomb or missile
• Television Programming and Institutions - target: (vb) aim program at particular audience
• Disapproval, Disrespect, and Denial - target: (vb) set as object, esp. for criticism

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See words rhyming with "target."

  See crossword solutions for the clue Target.

Common misspelling(s) of targeted

• targetted

Dansk (Danish)
n. - (skyde)skive, mål
v. tr. - have i sigtet

idioms:

• on target    lige i plet
• target language    det sprog, der oversættes til

Nederlands (Dutch)
doel, doelwit, doeleinde, richten

Français (French)
n. - cible, but, (Mil) objectif, objet (de)
v. tr. - (Mil) diriger (sur), prendre (qch) pour cible, (fig) viser, cibler (un créneau)

idioms:

• on target    dans le mille, à l'heure prévue
• target language    langue cible, langue d'arrivée

Deutsch (German)
n. - Ziel, Zielscheibe, Zielvorgabe
v. - festsetzen, als Ziel formulieren, richten (auf), anpeilen

idioms:

• on target    auf dem Weg, das Ziel zu erreichen
• target language    Zielsprache

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - στόχος σκοποβολής, (αντικειμενικός) σκοπός
adj. - (που είναι) στόχος

idioms:

• on target    κατευθείαν στο στόχο
• target language    (σε μετάφραση) γλώσσα-στόχος

Italiano (Italian)
fine, obiettivo, bersaglio

idioms:

• on target    secondo gli obiettivi prefissati

Português (Portuguese)
n. - alvo (m), objeto (m) (de crítica, censura etc.), mira (f), meta (f)

idioms:

• on target    em cheio, no alvo

Русский (Russian)
мишень, цель, объект обстрела/крити- ки/оскорблений

idioms:

• on target    успешное продвижение к намеченной цели

Español (Spanish)
n. - blanco, objetivo, objeto, meta, diana
v. tr. - elegir como blanco

idioms:

• on target    conforme a lo planeado, como está previsto
• target language    idioma de llegada

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - mål, måltavla, målsättning
adj. - mål-

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
目标, 指标, 靶子, 把...作为目标, 把...对准, 规定...的指标, 挑出

idioms:

• on target    击中要害的, 准确的
• target language    被翻译的语言

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 目標, 指標, 靶子
v. tr. - 把...作為目標, 把...對準, 規定...的指標, 挑出

idioms:

• on target    擊中要害的, 準確的
• target language    被翻譯的語言

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 과녁, 표적, 목표
v. tr. - ~을 목표로 정하다, 목적으로 하다

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 的, 標的, 種, 目標, 目標額

idioms:

• on target    的確な

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) ألدريه حلقه دائريه, ترس, , هدف (صفه) مستهدف‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮מטרה, יעד‬
v. tr. - ‮כיוון למטרה, סימן או בחר כמטרה‬

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